Get ready for talk about Green Mountains of marijuana and cash: The home state of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders appears well-positioned to become the nation’s first to legalize marijuana through legislation.

Hurdles remain, but a bill introduced this week by a longtime state senator has won out-of-the-gate support from Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin and the enthusiastic backing of the state Senate's Republican minority leader.

The Vermont legislation is more restrictive than voter-passed measures in Colorado, Oregon and Alaska, and more similar to Washington state’s law in not allowing residents to grow plants at home.

The bill would allow adults 21 and older to purchase and possess 1 ounce of marijuana. Non-Vermonters would be limited to quarter-ounce purchases from licensed retailers, and a commission would consider whether edible products and concentrates should be allowed.

A tax rate is not currently proposed in the bill, which is up for a vote Friday in the Vermont Senate Judiciary Committee, where passage appears certain. The chamber’s Finance Committee is expected to address taxation before sending the measure to the full state Senate.

Matt Simon, the Marijuana Policy Project’s New England political director, lives near the legislature in small-town Montpelier and says the bill’s chances appear to be improving as lawmakers listen to committee testimony from experts who’ve handled legalization in other states.

“The House is going to be a tougher sell,” Simon says, though he’s optimistic undecided members of certain committees will be won over, particularly after an anticipated triumph in the state Senate.

The sense of inevitability, Simon says, has prompted some declared skeptics to participate in the process to help mold the outcome. He says the full Senate likely will pass the bill in February or March.

The legislation was written intentionally as a cautious step into legalization, in line with guidelines set by Shumlin in a speech to lawmakers earlier this month. Simon recalls that the bill's sponsor, Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Sears, a Democrat, once said he'd never allow legalization but evolved into a strong reform supporter during earlier debates about decriminalizing small-time marijuana possession.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Joe Benning, vice chairman of the Judiciary Committee, says he fully supports the bill and that it balances the interests of both sides of the debate.

“To proponents, it doesn't go far enough, but there are provisions in the bill that will keep the conversation moving forward to discuss their concerns,” Benning says. “To opponents, the bill goes too far, but if you read the language of this 50-plus page bill you will see that virtually all concerns have been taken into account in a way that enables us to get hold of larger concerns.”

Benning says many fellow Republicans likely oppose the concept of legalization, but that he "remain[s] optimistic that the final version will demonstrate that most of their initial concerns are taken into account. That may possibly change some minds." Legalization votes often blur party lines, but Republicans, who are greatly outnumbered in Vermont, generally are more resistant.

Shumlin's predecessor, Republican former Gov. Jim Douglas, says he's not convinced legalization will be an easy sell, even with political stars currently appearing to align.

Douglas, speaking by phone from the Statehouse, where he was attending hearings with Middlebury College students, says the bill theoretically could die as a result of being sent to so many committees.

"There is a lot of support for it," he says, "but I can't predict at this point if they will pass it or not."

Douglas says he's "not a fan" of legalization and that some opposition already is forming. Doctors held a press conference Thursday urging restraint, and he says he expects law enforcement leaders to weigh in against the bill, arguing it's difficult to prove a driver is intoxicated on marijuana.

"Even though a poll shows more Vermonters support the proposal than not, there are going to be a lot of steps along the way before it happens," Douglas says. "And a lot of people ask, 'What's the rush?'"

Relatively progressive Vermont’s lurch toward legalization comes two years after the lower legislative chamber in libertarian-leaning New Hampshire passed a legalization bill, only to reconsider it in a second vote in the face of opposition from Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan and state senators.

Legalization bills have crept forward in other state legislatures – with a Bible-quoting Republican’s bill passing a Texas committee last year – but the only successful path for legalization thus far has been the ballot box in places that allow initiatives.

Passage of the Vermont legislation would make the state the first east of the Mississippi River to allow for a regulated recreational marijuana market (the nation’s capital allows home-growing of marijuana but is blocked by Congress from regulating sales).

If the bill does pass, Vermont may soon be joined by neighboring Maine and Massachusetts, where voters will consider ballot initiatives in November. Arizona, California and Nevada voters also are likely to consider legalization initiatives.

Legislation in other states may have at least somewhat of a chance this year. Bills in Rhode Island and Hawaii likely stand the best shot, though in most places majority support among the public is not enough. In New Mexico, where a recent poll found 61 percent support, a just-introduced measure's sponsor, state Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, freely admits "the chances are slim to none" it will pass.

Simon says the approach taken by Vermont political leaders could be an example for other states. He says thorough legislative hearings, a series of public engagement events and cautious drafting gave the effort a boost by making people comfortable with the idea.

"They've gotten past the giggle phase that a lot of state legislatures are stuck in," he says. "I think it’s certainly better than 50-50 [it will pass this year]. We’ve seen the momentum increase each week, and it looks like we’ll have a strong vote coming out of the Senate."

Ahead of the bill's unveiling, the Marijuana Policy Project this week released a TV ad with Vermont's former Attorney General Kimberly Cheney, a Republican, likening current marijuana policy to alcohol prohibition and urging residents to contact their lawmakers.

Possession of marijuana for any reason outside limited research remains a federal crime, but the Obama administration has allowed state and tribal governments broad leeway to chart their own courses – a policy favored by 2016 presidential front-runners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Other top contenders in the GOP and Democratic primary contests, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sanders, also support state autonomy, with Sanders also supporting federal legalization.

Douglas says he can see the potential appeal of tourism dollars along with taxes and licensing fees, but that "there's something about Vermont values that will come to play," and he's not sure those values will live up to their liberal reputation.