The House of Representatives in Vermont is ready to take up a bill from the state Senate which legalizes Marijuana. The state of Vermont could become the first US state to legalize recreational Marijuana if the bill makes it to the governor's desk.
RT News reported that state lawmakers are gearing up to take up a bill that would allow adults over 21 to buy and smoke the drug beginning 2018. In addition to bringing freedom of choice to the individuals of Vermont, senators who backed up the bill said that illegal drug dealers would be put out of business, protecting citizens of Vermont from harder drugs that the same dealers would sell. However, the proposal indicates that it would forbid users from growing plants at home and ban any production of edible products which contains marijuana extracts.
According to Reuters, the lawmakers need to act before the end of May this year, when the current session ends, a deadline that may prove difficult to meet. It is yet indefinite whether it has enough support in the House to pass.
The bill would impose a 25 percent tax on sales of the drug, which then would fund drug education programs and drug law enforcement. State Senator Jeanette White, the author of the Senate bill, said it makes for a much more thoughtful and measured approach and that the Senate need to work out the details.
Recreational marijuana is already legal in Oregon, Alaska, Colorado, Washington, and the District of Columbia, all of which passed legalizations through voter ballot initiatives, according to The Sun Times. Voters in four more states, including Massachusetts, are yet to vote on legalization in November.
Reports also tell that bills have been submitted in 16 other states, however, none has advanced as far. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
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