Vermont Bill to Legalize Marijuana

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Created on Tuesday, 02 February 2016 19:00

Written by Dylan Robichaud

MONTPELIER-Marijuana could soon be legal to smoke in Vermont. On Friday, The Senate Judiciary committe voted 4-1 in favor of a bill that would make it legal for a person to have as much of an ounce of the drug in their possesion at any one time. 

 The bill would allow Marijuana to be sold either in special stores or in controlled areas as soon as 2018.

Although the age to purchase the drug is 21, some local organizations, such as the kingdom recovery center in Saint Johnsbury, are skeptical that this will do more harm then good.

"My professional and actually even my personal opinion is that I fear that if the (drug) becomes legal, we will see an increase in people using it and of the people using it I believe they will use it more so that it will lead to greater health risk for people who are using it. But my biggest concern is for the kids," says Rose Sheehan, a representative for North Eastern Vermont Regional Hospital.

"We see that with Alcohol and Tobacco, those are legal substances and kids tend to see them as fairly safe so they tend to use them more," she said.

The bill will next go to the Senate Finance Committe where all the members of the senate will vote on it. The senate has yet to decide how the drug will be taxed.