MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said Thursday he would appoint a commission to study legalizing the recreational use of marijuana since a similar body that would have been created under a marijuana legalization bill failed to pass the Legislature this week.
A day after Republicans in the Vermont House refused to allow the marijuana bill to be considered during a one-day veto session, Scott said the commission he appoints will have as its goals ensuring public safety and looking for the best way to regulate the drug.
“We need to address the issue of highway impairment,” Scott said. “It’s coming to us. We can’t put our heads in the sand. It’s here and we need to deal with it.”
On Wednesday, the Vermont Senate voted to legalize the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. It also addressed some of the public safety concerns that prompted Scott to veto a version of the bill that passed early this spring by, among other things, creating misdemeanor crimes with no jail time for people using marijuana in a vehicle with children present. The House would not consider the bill after chamber Republicans refused on procedural grounds to bring it to a floor vote.
Democratic state Sen. Dick Sears, who helped negotiate the Senate version, said he’s still hopeful legalization can be passed in time for it to be implemented on July 1, 2018, the same date in the Senate bill, but expressed concern that delays could make that more difficult.
“I fear that the longer you wait, the longer it will take to get to a tax and regulated system,” Sears said Thursday. He said regulating and taxing marijuana could help pay for education and public safety programs. “Just legalizing doesn’t move that bar very far,” Sears said.
Scott said the Senate proposal will be ready for consideration by the House when lawmakers return in January.
The commission Scott said he would create by executive order is similar to one that would have been set up in the proposal that passed the Senate. But the governor didn’t say how many members would be on the commission or who he would ask to serve on it.
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