The Vermont Coalition to Regulate Marijuana holds a news conference Wednesday to push to legalize the drug. Photo by Elizabeth Hewitt/VTDigger
The coalition supported legislation last year that would have created a legal, regulated market for recreational marijuana in Vermont.
Matt Simon, of the Marijuana Policy Project, said the landscape is different this year as two other states in the region — Massachusetts and Maine — prepare to legalize after successful ballot measures in November.
“There’s no way all this toothpaste can be forced back into the tube,” said Simon, whose group is a member of the coalition. “Prohibition has simply obviously failed, and the majority of Vermonters, like other New Englanders, are ready to move forward with a new approach.”
Though no bill to legalize has yet been introduced during this session of the Legislature, the group said it expects to see some legislation.
Jay Diaz, of the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont, said that although possession of small amounts of marijuana has been decriminalized in the state, those who use it “still feel like criminals.”
He said marijuana legalization is a civil rights issue, and pointed to racial disparities in the rates at which police officers search people for drugs and other contraband.
He also bucked arguments about road safety that frequently come from opponents of legalization, arguing that drugged driving is already an issue.
Suzi Wizowaty, of Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform, said the war on drugs has not been successful.
“If the goal is actually to reduce use, then the answer is not criminalizing it,” Wizowaty said. “Punishment does not deter.”
Simon said he expects to see a piecemeal approach to marijuana this year, rather than a full legalization and regulation bill, as the Senate passed last year.
“We want to support this conversation any way we can,” he said.
Still, three weeks into the legislative session, no bills have been introduced that would legalize or regulate marijuana.
Rep. Maxine Grad, D-Moretown, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, said she has not seen any proposed legislation.
Grad said she is “very interested in the reclassification of drug penalties” and considering the impact that nonviolent drug convictions have on people’s abilities to enter the workforce.
She would not say whether she is considering legislation related to legalizing marijuana.
Meanwhile, any legalization measure could face an uphill battle. Gov. Phil Scott has said that although he is not against legalizing marijuana, he does not think now is the right time.
Anti-marijuana advocates are also gearing up to fight a renewed legalization push.
“The state was wise to reject legalization last year,” said Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana.
He sees a lack of legislative interest in the matter in Vermont. If those in favor of legalization couldn’t pass the measure last year under a governor who was in favor, he said, he does not see bright prospects for the push this year. He supports Scott’s hesitation on the issue.
“I think the governor’s instincts are correct,” he said.
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