Vermont Governor Calls for Cannabis Legalization

By: Jeremy Daw
 

For the first time in US history, a sitting governor has called on his Senate and Legislature to approve a bill to legalize the adult use of marijuana. Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont devoted almost a third of his January 7th State of the State address to endorse major drug policy reforms, including a bill which learns from the experience of earlier state initiatives to “thoughtfully and carefully eliminate the era of prohibition that is currently failing us so miserably.”

To date four states and the District of Columbia have enacted similar reforms as those Gov. Shumlin called for in his official address — but all at the behest of voters, who have been reliably more progressive on the issue of cannabis reform than their elected representatives. Shumlin’s proposal, if enacted, would be the first adult use legalization law passed through the legislative process – a significant Rubicon in a country where the majority of states do not permit voters to pass laws directly.

Shumlin did not provide much in the way of details for the bill, other than to outline five principal goals that any legalization bill, in his opinion, should have:

1. A system to keep marijuana products out of the hands of minors. This is common sense, but Shumlin pointed out how miserably the current system of prohibition was failing at doing just that, and exhorted Vermont’s representatives to explore alternatives. This may prove more difficult than it sounds, because although so far teen cannabis use has tended to go down in states which legalize its use, the reduction has been relatively slight. Teens who really want to smoke pot tend to be able to obtain it — no matter what the laws of their state may say.
2. Taxes low enough to let the regulated system compete with illicit markets. This is surprisingly enlightened for an elected official. Washington state’s crushing 3-time 25% cannabis excise tax has impeded the success of voter-demanded Initiative 502, and even Colorado’s more reasonable 15% tax appears to have buoyed black market activity there. Chalk two up to inexperience — at the time those two states passed adult use legalization, the reform was literally unprecedented — but Gov. Shumlin is wise enough to suggest that Vermont learn from their early mistakes and set the tax rate a bit lower.
3. Cannabis tax revenues earmarked in part for addiction treatment programs. Shumlin mentioned this point soon after discussing at length the OxyContin and Zohydro addiction epidemic which has ravaged his state, so presumably his remarks are meant to be taken in the context of opiate addiction instead of some supposed problem with marijuana dependence. If so, this is just more common sense.
4. Improve law enforcement response to cannabis impaired drivers. This one’s a little vague. Presumably it means training for cops to recognize the telltale signs of driving under marijuana’s influence, although veteran cops likely do a pretty good job of this as is. What they really need is better breathalyzer technology, since chemical testing for impaired levels of THC is much more difficult to do than testing for elevated levels of alcohol.
5. Ban the sale of cannabis edibles “until other states figure out how to do it right.” This is an apparent reference to high-profile edible overdoses and controversy over sugar-filled “medicines” which could be especially attractive to children, although it could also refer to early struggles to establish accurate dosing in cannabis products. The concern is valid but a little overblown, as there is already evidence that Colorado has gone a long way toward fixing their system for edible marijuana.

Despite the overabundance of caution, the legislative endorsement drew praise from reform advocates. “Pete Shumlin is providing just the sort of leadership we need to see from other governors around the country,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance.  “Indeed, it’s a bit surprising, with a majority of Americans in favor of marijuana legalization, that he’s the only sitting governor to actively call for it.  I’m hopeful this is the start of a new trend.”

Just over a year ago, the Leaf boldly predicted that a state legislature would legalize cannabis some time in 2015. Looks like our timing was a little off.