cannabisnews.com: Vermont’s D.I.Y. Approach on Marijuana
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Vermont’s D.I.Y. Approach on Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on May 24, 2017 at 07:41:13 PT
By The NYT Editorial Board
Source: New York Times
Vermont is on the verge of becoming the ninth state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, but, being Vermont, it is taking an earthier, grow-it-yourself approach — one that could become a model for others.Vermont is not asking voters to approve a ballot proposal and it is not allowing for-profit businesses to grow and sell the drug, at least not right away. Instead, its lawmakers passed a bill this month that would let people 21 and older keep two flowering and four young marijuana plants at home. In addition, people 21 and older could possess up to one ounce of the drug. The bill would also create an independent commission to propose legislation that could later be used to create a regulated market for marijuana with commercial growers and retailers.
Vermont’s path resembles that of the District of Columbia, where residents voted in 2014 to let people 21 and older grow up to six marijuana plants. Proponents of the home-grow model say it represents a third approach that falls somewhere between criminalizing use of the drug and creating a market in which businesses have an incentive to encourage marijuana use.A big benefit of the Vermont bill is that it gives lawmakers time to study the effects of legalization before deciding whether to allow marijuana businesses. Governments could use that time to come up with regulations to keep teenagers and young adults from using the drug, since there is some evidence that marijuana can have adverse effects on the developing brain. This should be appealing to lawmakers who recognize the problems associated with the war on drugs but are worried that allowing commercial sales could lead to the marijuana equivalent of Big Tobacco — a powerful industry that seeks to market its products to children and that lobbies lawmakers to rescind or water down public health regulations.Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, has until midnight Wednesday to sign or veto the Vermont bill, which will become law if he does neither. Mr. Scott says he will announce his decision on Wednesday. He ought to sign the bill for all the reasons other states have decided to end prohibition. The criminalization of marijuana has been a disaster, leading to long prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, who are disproportionately members of minorities. In addition, there is a growing body of evidence that the drug is not nearly as harmful as the federal and state governments have long thought.Mr. Scott should also keep in mind that regardless of what he does, Vermonters will soon have easy access to legal weed. Last November voters in nearby Maine and Massachusetts approved proposals to legalize marijuana, and officials in the two states are developing the rules for regulated markets. Elsewhere in New England, Democratic lawmakers in Connecticut recently proposed legalizing the commercial sale of marijuana, and a Rhode Island House committee voted last week to create a commission to study the issue.If Mr. Scott vetoes the bill, he will encourage people to drive across state lines to get their pot or to continue relying on the black market. It would be far better to sign this sensible measure and work with the Legislature to find the best ways to regulate markets in the future.A version of this editorial appears in print on May 24, 2017, on Page A24 of the New York edition with the headline: Vermont’s D.I.Y. Approach on Marijuana.Source: New York Times (NY) Published: May 24, 2017Copyright: 2017 The New York Times CompanyContact: letters nytimes.comWebsite: http://www.nytimes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/hzSK01tzCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #15 posted by Hope on May 26, 2017 at 21:39:09 PT
Vermont
Your governor is scared of a plant. It's about witches. Cannabis is an herb. Witches use herbs in their potions. Cannabis users are therefore witches and must be punished.What's the good reason for hurting and punishing and stopping people from having access to the cannabis plant?There isn't one. Just like there was no real reason to accuse people of being witches and it's truly wrong to punish people for using what the very first page of the Holy Bible states clearly, "Is good".What is wrong with prohibitionists? Why can't they clearly see right from wrong? Why are they blinded by unfounded fear of a plant and people using it?Could it be.... you know who? Five letters. Starts with an S and ends with a N?Aaargh. Humanity's inhumanity to fellow humans... some more.
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Comment #14 posted by Hope on May 26, 2017 at 21:28:22 PT
Go, Nevada, go!
Show 'em how it's supposed to be done!
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Comment #13 posted by Sam Adams on May 26, 2017 at 09:17:47 PT
political class
interesting - when they had an MJ-friendly governor last year, the legislature refused to pass repeal.This year they have a hostile governor, and the legislature passes the law. This is no coincidence, it's the 2-party system working exactly as designed. CT passed medMJ like 5 years in a row and found procedural ways to stop it. This subterfuge lets most of the politicians vote "yes" on a popular issue while still maintaining the full weight of Prohibition. Scott's veto will translate into millions of dollars of lost tax revenue by late next year. Check out Nevada, which is moving in the opposite direction:>>Nevada races to get recreational marijuana on shelves in record timehttp://www.rgj.com/story/news/marijuana/2017/05/26/nevada-races-get-recreational-marijuana-shelves-record-time/339774001/Now that Nevada has the green light to move forward with its early start recreational marijuana program, it could set the national record for the fastest turnaround of retail reefer
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Comment #12 posted by Hope on May 25, 2017 at 19:13:14 PT
Afterburner
The article came up from url for me... but I dread reading it. The GCW, I've got that Summit Daily News piece up, too.I've been away from the computer all day... may as well get the stomach acid flowing.Aaargh.
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Comment #11 posted by The GCW on May 25, 2017 at 15:27:11 PT
Hope,
Regarding comment #7,Big Pharma too.-0-Report: Medical marijuana could poach more than $4B from pharma sales annuallyThe report is intended to show how cannabis could disrupt pharmaceutical sales in key treatment areas including chronic pain, PTSD, sleep disorders, anxiety, epilepsy, and chemotherapy side effectshttp://www.summitdaily.com/news/report-medical-marijuana-could-poach-more-than-4b-from-pharma-sales-annually/
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Comment #10 posted by afterburner on May 25, 2017 at 11:28:26 PT
Sorry, the Previous Link Seems to be Inactive
I can't get the article I just posted to load. Maybe you will have better luck. It is in the June 2017 edition of Popular Mechanics, now on the newsstand if you have the shekels or at your local library.
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Comment #9 posted by afterburner on May 25, 2017 at 11:16:33 PT
Not about Vermont, but also Annoying
An interesting article in next month's Popular Mechanics:"It'll Take an Army to Kill the Emperor.
By Jacqueline Detwiler.
May 17, 2017".
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a26290/we-will-beat-cancer/#Researchers working together to find a cure for cancer seems like a good idea. However, in
"IV. Postmodern Radiation: Any Other Ideas?"
In the "Interlude" they seem to treat Medical Cannabis as some kind of Conspiracy Theory!
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Comment #8 posted by Hope on May 25, 2017 at 05:35:24 PT
Sorry for the grammar and errors...
Sometimes I get upset and post without carefully proofreading.
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Comment #7 posted by Hope on May 25, 2017 at 05:33:12 PT
Scott's not worried about "Big Marijuana"...
He's worried about Big Prison... Big Government... and Big Prohibition.I'm so sick of these horrible people willing to punish, punish, punish over "Plant matter" and saying they love and want to protect their fellow humans from evil and big plant manufacturing.People like Scott love their fellow humans and are just protecting them and making better choices for them than they might make for themselves. Making people's choices for them. This is America...we can't make choices for ourselves. We have political nannies that take care of us. We're adults? Of course we are. But they are know better for us.Aaargh.
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Comment #6 posted by Soupherb on May 25, 2017 at 05:28:23 PT:
I'm not surprised
that this Governor is a coward...like in most cases the politician is a coward always hiding behind the lies and fraud they bring to the table in the name of Democracy????
Irrational behavior cannot be dealt with, it is a mental disorder propagated on and by GREED...sigh.
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on May 24, 2017 at 22:14:46 PT
I'm guessing he's through being governor
after this term.Beastly. Absolutely, beastly.It's not right. Our states aren't supposed to have that tyrannical sort of old time, old world governing. Over ruling the people and the legislature is like some sort of master or king thing to do. That's not right for the United States of America.All these men in the western world that suddenly seem to think they would be kings are alarming. They seem to be coming out of the wood work.I'm appalled.
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Comment #4 posted by The GCW on May 24, 2017 at 21:53:50 PT
Caging people using what is GOOD.
When We think about, Who are these people, how does it come about that certain people have a form of power to decide who gets punished for what... Who can do this and not do that.That in fact is all of this world.They are inadequate, biased, bought; they are not worthy of the world We are IN. They are less worthy, totally unworthy of the world We are headed.TestedThey failed.They fail.Where They and We are going, they will be confronted.The notion They live in is heathen in a term of longevity they don't understand. You can not take part in caging people for using that which is good and get by with it.Wear a suit today, but what will U wear next?
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on May 24, 2017 at 15:27:21 PT
Not unexpected from a republican.
“I think we need to move a little bit slower.” July 2018, after 8 decades is fast, much too fast,-for repubs.And more safety measures are needed; NEVER killing anyone must be improved upon."We need to get this right"
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on May 24, 2017 at 15:18:14 PT
Marijuana Bill Vetoed by Vermont Governor
URL: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/may/24/marijuana-legalization-bill-vetoed-vermont-governo/
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Comment #1 posted by HempWorld on May 24, 2017 at 08:25:23 PT
"there is some evidence that marijuana can have
adverse effects on the developing brain."You know what? I've never seen this 'evidence' of harm on the developing brain. Does it exist? Can someone post this here if it is true? Never seen it in my lifetime, I have read reports on Jamaican women using ganja tea while pregnant. It turned out their children were better socially developed than kids who were not exposed. Thus, the effect was largely positive.As for this argument: "allowing commercial sales could lead to the marijuana equivalent of Big Tobacco"Plain bunk, as the tobacco industry is highly concentrated allowing only for a few huge brands, think Marlboro, etc., similar to the beer industry. The marijuana or cannabis industry is exactly the opposite, more along the lines of the wine industry.Anyone claiming these are the same business model needs to have their head (or motives) examined! But then again most 'arguments' against a legal marijuana or cannabis industry are fabricated lies and we know them all too well.
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