A Democratic member of the Vermont House of Representatives told fellow Democrats yesterday he strongly opposes S.54, the legalization of commercial cultivation, production, sale and taxation of marijuana.
Vermont Attorney General T. J. Donovan, legislative leaders and advocates gathered Thursday at the Statehouse to press for the adoption this year of a bill that would establish a tax-and-regulate system for commercial cannabis.
“As with all substance use, consumption of cannabis can be unhealthy. ‘Let’s Talk Cannabis’ gives Vermonters the information they need to make safe and informed choices,” Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine said.
As policymakers from Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont gathered Thursday night to discuss plans for a commercial marijuana market in Vermont, critics of legalization showed up to say Vermont farmers can expect to be overrun by large corporate marketers.
Vermont should legalize “tax-and-regulate” commercial marijuana, and municipalities shouldn’t get much authority to veto or tax, Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan said in a Nov. 27 interview.
Car crashes and collision insurance claims are up in in cannabis-legal states, Bloomberg News reports. Now the American Trucking Association wants state and federal government to take steps to protect truckers, motorists and passengers from marijuana-impaired drivers.
Municipal officials are being investigated for soliciting and receiving big bribes from legal marijuana companies. Also, more people are visiting hospital emergency rooms for treatment for “scromiting.”
According to published comments made last week by Cary Giguere of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, the state could lose 70% of its hemp crop for being out of compliance with federal rules. Some farmers aren’t too happy about it.
A new report released by the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) presents damning evidence relating to the effects of marijuana legalization in Colorado and beyond.
Either we reclaim our constitutional heritage, or we collapse in barbaric anarchy that will make us wish we were instead at the fall of Rome. The prescription is to defend the Constitution against the insidious creep of tyranny.
The Safe Banking Act would allow businesses selling marijuana in compliance with state law to take advantage of the federal banking system. Right now, they cannot, because, by opening up accounts, the businesses and the banks would violate the federal statutes outlawing the distribution of controlled substances.