Vermont has a 14% excise tax and a 6% sales tax on marijuana. The state has generated $5.36 million in revenue during fiscal year 2023, broken down to $3.85 million for the excise tax and $1.51 million in sales tax.
In the fall of 2021, Lynette Vallecillo and fiance Robert Owen purchased the former gas station known as Emery’s on Waterbury-Stowe Road. Now, they’ve opened GoodFire dispensary on the lot, adding another cannabis operation to the town’s offerings.
A bill in the committee, S.72, would remove the current statutory limit of 60% for concentrates sold in shops — products like hashish and oils and waxes that contain higher amounts of the chemical in cannabis that gets people high.
Marijuana advocates are continuing a push to legalize the drug for recreational use in New Hampshire, but the perennial effort faces an uncertain path.
Vermont’s recreational cannabis market has taken off this fall in the White River Valley, with more than 25 cultivators licensed by the state Cannabis Control Board in the region and more still pending.
White House officials claim the policy will affect 6,500 people with marijuana possession convictions reaching back to 1992. But even they had to admit on Friday that “no one is currently serving time in federal prison solely for the crime of simple marijuana possession.”
Just one month after issuing the first licenses for adult-use cannabis sales, adults age 21 and over will be able to purchase up to 1 ounce of marijuana or 8,400 milligrams of THC-infused products.
If the Gendrons’ license is approved by the state, Devil’s Den will be one of the first businesses southbound travelers on Route 5 see when they roll into the business district — and the couple hopes the store helps bring traffic to other shops.
The further Vermont goes down the road to legalized state-controlled marijuana marketing, the more interesting surprises come to the surface.
Retail marijuana sales are anticipated to begin later this year in The Green Mountain State, and will be taxed at 20%, which includes a 14% excise tax and the state’s 6% sales tax.
In the 1990s, the average THC content in marijuana flower was less than 4%. It is now about 15% — and we’re talking about products with a potency of up to 80 or 90% THC.
The Vermont Cannabis Control Board should limit THC concentration in legal marijuana products to 15%, a Nov. 17 Vermont Medical Society resolution urges.