Search Results for "vermont"

Vermont Joins List of States to Ban Delta-8 THC

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Farms, and Markets (AAFM) informed all registered hemp cultivators that Delta-8 THC products are not regarded as legal hemp products in an email sent out last Friday, April 23.

With this statute, Vermont joins 12 other states that have categorized the manufacturing and sale of Delta-8 THC products as illegal under state law; Delta-8 THC has also been banned in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, Rhode Island, and Utah.

On their website, Vermont AAFM clarifies the state’s position further by acknowledging that hemp plants naturally produce Delta-8 THC in trace amounts. However, products with intoxicating levels of the cannabinoid are created using isomerization, which synthetically converts CBD to THC.

The Vermont Hemp Rules state that, “A processor shall not use synthetic cannabinoids in the production of any hemp product or hemp-infused product” (6.3). With this rule, the manufacturing, labeling, or sale of any Delta-8 product in the state of Vermont would violate state law. As such, anyone who distributes, uses, or possesses one of these products may face criminal penalties in the state.

Many CBD retailers have seen great financial gains due to the recent proliferation of Delta-8 throughout the states. This clarification may heavily impact their newfound revenues.

Meanwhile, the hemp industry in Alabama recently praised lawmakers there after they pulled an amendment proposal that would have categorized Delta-8 THC and Delta-10 THC as controlled substances.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Kentucky was among the states that have banned Delta-8 THC products.

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Some Vermont Towns to Allow Cannabis Retail

More than 20 Vermont communities have approved adult-use cannabis operations in recent town meetings, according to the Associated Press. Vermont is taking a local approach to rolling out its adult-use cannabis system. Instead of outright legalization across the state, voters can approve the adult-use industry on a town-by-town basis. Once a town votes in favor, businesses can apply for retail licenses, which are then considered by a state board.

According to the report, at least three towns have “rejected” cannabis sales, but most recently a surge of communities including Bennington, Brattleboro, Burlington, Montpelier, Vergennes, Waterbury, and Winooski added their names to the “approve” column.

Vermont’s adult-use cannabis journey looks a bit different from a lot of states. The Legislature legalized cannabis possession and home cultivation in 2018. However, the state failed to pass regulations for the commercial production and distribution of cannabis. The legislature later returned and passed a tax-and-regulate bill last year, which Gov. Phil Scott (R) allowed to pass into law without his signature.

Rather than a veto, the governor expressed his concerns to the Senate via letter, writing that the state’s licensing structure will “disproportionately benefit Vermont’s existing medical dispensaries by giving them sole access to integrated licenses and an unfair head start on market access.

“This creates an inequitable playing held both for our smaller minority and women-owned business applicants, and other small Vermont growers and entrepreneurs,” the governor wrote.

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Tim Fair: Vermont’s Path to an Adult-Use Cannabis Market

Vermont was the first state to legalize cannabis without relying on the ballot initiative process. The landmark bill, however, stopped short of establishing a regulated adult-use marketplace in the state, which has led to a lot of consumer confusion and resulted in a bustling cannabis gray market.

In this podcast interview, Vermont Cannabis Solutions founder Tim Fair joins our host TG Branfalt to discuss prospects for a future Vermont cannabis marketplace, the state of its medical cannabis and hemp CBD industries, the meddling of federal law enforcement agencies in local cannabis issues, and more.

You can listen to the interview below or through your favorite podcast platform, or scroll further down to read a full transcript of this week’s episode of the Ganjapreneur.com podcast.


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Read the transcript:

Commercial: At Ganjapreneur, We have heard from dozens of cannabis business owners who have encountered the issue of canna-bias, which is when a mainstream business, whether a landlord, bank, or some other provider of vital business services refuses to do business with them simply because of their association with cannabis. We have even heard stories of businesses being unable to provide health and life insurance for their employees because the insurance providers were too afraid to work with them. We believe that this fear is totally unreasonable and that cannabis business owners deserve access to the same services and resources that other businesses are afforded, that they should be able to hire consultation to help them follow the letter of the law in their business endeavors, and that they should be able to provide employee benefits without needing to compromise on the quality of coverage they can offer. This is why we created the ganjapreneur.com business service directory, a resource for cannabis professionals to find and connect with service providers who are cannabis friendly and who are actively seeking cannabis industry clients.

If you are considering hiring a business consultant, lawyer, accountant, web designer, or any other ancillary service for your business, go to Ganjapreneur.com/businesses to browse hundreds of agencies, firms, and organizations who support cannabis legalization and who want to help you grow your business. With so many options to choose from in each service category, you will be able to browse company profiles and do research on multiple companies in advance. So you can find the provider who is the best fit for your particular need. Our business service directory is intended to be a useful and well-maintained resource, which is why we individually vet each listing that is submitted. If you are a business service provider who wants to work with cannabis clients, you may be a good fit for our service directory.

Go to Ganjapreneur.com/businesses to create your profile and start connecting with cannabis entrepreneurs today.

TG Branfalt: Hey, there, I’m your host TG Branfalt and thank you for listening to the ganjapreneur.com podcast, where we try to bring you actionable information and normalize cannabis through the stories of Ganjapreneurs, activists, and industry stakeholders. Today, I’m joined by Tim Fare. He’s a friend of mine, a friend of the show now. It’s his second appearance. He’s a Vermont based attorney and founder of Vermont Cannabis Solutions. He advises canna-businesses in the state and also defends individuals accused of cannabis-related criminal offenses. How you doing man?

Tim Fair: Doing great. TG, thanks so much for having me on.

TG Branfalt: No, it’s always a pleasure to see you. You’re still in Burlington, while I have absconded deeper into the mountains. So we don’t get to talk or see each other that much anymore, but it’s great to have you on. We have a lot to talk about there’s a lot going on in Vermont, and you’ve done a lot since legalization. The gray market legalization has occurred in Vermont, but before we get into all that sort of stuff, remind people about your background and how you ended up in the space.

Tim Fair: Well, I graduated from law school in 2012, went into criminal defense. And prior to that, kind of my previous incarnation, I was pretty strongly into advocacy for drug policy reform. This is something that has always been a passion of mine ever since college back when I was 18 years old and attempted unsuccessfully to form a chapter of NORML at my community college in Long Island. This is something that I’m just been passionate about. I felt that the United States drug policy has been wrong. Viewing drug use and addiction as a criminal behavior, as opposed to a health concern. This to me just never died. And once I have the opportunity to go to law school and graduate and become an attorney, this was something I’ve had a passion for. So after a few years of learning the ropes, I made the decision to transfer to an area that I felt I could actually have an impact in terms of a … drug policy.

TG Branfalt: So I think the last time that we spoke, legalization was either on the verge or had just passed, but there was no implemented recreational market as you know, and most of our listeners know. And so what is your role been post-legalization in Vermont as it relates to advising businesses?

Tim Fair: Well, you’re exactly right. We passed legalization in 2018 here in Vermont and we legalized our possession of up to an ounce. We legalized home grow of up to the six plants to mature for immature. However, what we didn’t do was legalize any sort of tax and regulated system. So it’s legal to possess. It’s legal to consume. It’s legal to grow a little bit. It is not legal to buy or sell cannabis anywhere here in the state of Vermont. So over the past two years, we have been focusing on kind of two prongs, A developing of our hemp and CBD industry, which we have a thriving industry here in Vermont, thanks to so really great regulation from our department of agriculture, who really supports the industry while at the same time, trying to move forward a tax regulated bill so we can get the commercial marketplace here and that’s posed, of course, its own unique challenges.

TG Branfalt: Well, so let me stop you right there real quick. Just yesterday it came up in a committee, am I correct? And there’s still a pretty big gap there between… What’s the holdup right now?

Tim Fair: Lots. COVID, for one, and we just still don’t have a reconciled bill. There’s still a lot of resistance within our legislature. The speaker of the house, Mitzi Johnson, who happens to be a Democrat has never been on board with cannabis. She doesn’t like it. She’s never liked it. She doesn’t try to hide that she doesn’t like it. And she has really been a roadblock in getting this moved in a quick fashion, but we are seeing movement, basically this conference committee, which the job of this committee is to reconcile the Senate version and the House version of our tax and reg bill, which have very, very different provisions in them, to come up with one final bill, which would then get submitted to the governor. This committee was formed on March 13th, our legislature shut down to COVID on March 15th.

So there was some questions if they would ever have a chance to convene. Yesterday, they convened for the first time. They spent about three hours kind of discussing where the Senate was, where the House was, determined that there were some very big gaps in what they wanted to see, but the movement of just the committee meeting and starting to just work. That was probably the most positive sign we’ve seen in awhile. Two weeks ago. I would’ve said this bill is dead in the water. Now I would say, it’s not dead. It’s still in the water, but we at least see some signs of life.

TG Branfalt: Did lawmakers say anything to the effect during that committee meeting that the state was facing any sort of financial deficits from COVID, which most States are, especially, smaller rural States? Is that part of the impetus or is it just sort of trying to finally let the horse out of the gate?

Tim Fair: I think a little bit of both. The problem is that the state received from their tax department, a estimation of revenue from this bill, which in my opinion, was massively underestimated.

TG Branfalt: What was that? What was that?

Tim Fair: Massively underestimated.

TG Branfalt: What was the figure?

Tim Fair: They anticipate that it’ll take four years before we see any sort of return on the initial investment to get the program started? And they’re saying the amounts will be in one to two million in tax revenue a year based on 20 to 30 million of sales a year.

TG Branfalt: Meanwhile, just to sort of cut you off real quick. Meanwhile, Massachusetts is raking money from New Yorkers, people from New Jersey. So you’d wager to guess that that same sort of influx of out-of-state customers would be coming to Vermont.

Tim Fair: They extrapolate it out from Oregon sales based on one year and then factored in the population change, and taking it to none of the considerations that Oregon and Vermont are very different places.

TG Branfalt: Well, Washington is right there. There’s legalization and…

Tim Fair: Right. But unfortunately a lot of the legislators are using that base. So they don’t yet believe that there’s going to be the income that we believe there will be from this. But there is a strong understanding that the status quo just simply can’t exist. Again, we have this kind of very, very, very loose legalization law that leaves all a lot to be interpreted, a lot that is just not addressed, not answered. They talk about you can have an ounce of flower or five grams of hashish, nothing about concentrates, nothing about that. So what does that mean? Hash? We’re guessing it is, but there’s just a lot that is very unclear, which has made moving forward with our industry very difficult for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

TG Branfalt: So let’s talk a little bit about some of the sort of strangeness of the setup that you guys have there, you described the cannabis laws earlier. So criminally, what charges have you been hired to defend? Well, you have possession of an ounce. You can grow six plants. So you know what charges are state, local law enforcement officials are bringing against people under this regime?

Tim Fair: So it really is interesting. I don’t want to get too much into the weeds, but Vermont has 14 counties. Each County has its own elected state’s attorney. So you have 14 separate States attorneys, who have an unbelievable amount of autonomy to pursue the agendas that they feel are most important. So in certain counties, such as Chittenden here in Burlington, we’re not seeing a whole lot of state prosecutions for cannabis. In other counties with different minded States attorneys we are. So in the last year, just since legalization, I’ve had to defend a husband and wife, husband is a medical marijuana patient and veteran, Navy veteran with diagnosed PTSD and a hemp cultivator who was charged with felony cultivation for cultivating three, what the state police call mature plants, one plant over their limit, which technically isn’t even a felony. Yet him, and his wife, who nothing at all to do with his grow operation, were both charged with felony counts.

We had a great resolution on that. We ended up after quite a bit of back and forth getting the state’s attorney’s office to drop those charges, but not without a lot of work to get put in to convince them to do so. We’ve seen CBD oil manufacturers being arrested when law enforcement believes that what they’re putting together is illegal. There’s a lot of, I’m not going to say it’s intentional, ignorance on the part of law enforcement, but there was a lack of really a full understanding of the differences between hemp and marijuana, CBD and THC. There’s still a huge learning curve. And a lot of this law enforcement will just go in, proverbial guns ablazing. And that’s what we’re still dealing with because in this lack of regulation, there are so many open questions that it makes it very difficult for anybody to be operating on the right side of the law because some simply don’t know what the right side of the law is in a lot of occasions.

TG Branfalt: Well, so in one of the cases that sort of a, I don’t want to say it drew sort of national attention, but it did — there was so many moving parts — and it involved federal law enforcement officials. Am I correct?

Tim Fair: Absolutely.

TG Branfalt: We were talking about the case of a guy named Big John, well-known in the community has a skate shop. I don’t know if he ran for mayor, but people really want him to be made with sort of some of the graffiti you’ve seen, stuff like that. So tell us about that case, how the feds got involved. And it’s a really interesting case. There’s a lot of moving parts and the resolution you got was… I mean, goddamn. So just walk us through that, man.

Tim Fair: Okay. There are a lot of moving parts and I think before we can just jump right into it and kind of need to set the stage a little bit and understand the context of which this happened. John has run Riding High, which is a local skate shop, for the last almost 20 years. He’s amazing, and he has worked with now two generations of kids learning to skate. This has been a passion of his, but John’s their pro skater. He took a nasty, nasty fall, suffered a pretty significant TBI about a decade back, recovered, came back, stuck with it. He’s a great guy, and he happens to be a very strong advocate for cannabis. He believes it’s a healing flower. He believes that it helped him recover from his accident.

And he believes in the positive aspects of cannabis. He makes no hint of how, which unfortunately has resulted in quite a few run ins with law enforcement over the years, where one occasion police came into investigate the reports of a grow as there’s they’re in what as big John do? Big John pulls out of joint lights it up. They’re like, “Big John, you can’t do that.” Like, “Why, it’s my healing medicine.” And John, he wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s an amazing guy. So unfortunately this has created quite a record building up on him. Now, flash forward to 2018, where here in Burlington, legalization has passed and there was an incident with a retailer, not Big John, but another retailer up on Church Street, which is the main tourist drag of Burlington, an open-air pedestrian walkway with shops, decided to start selling amongst other things, marijuana, edibles, allegedly some other substances as well out of his shop on Church Street, directly across from city hall.

And this went on for quite a few months and it pissed a lot of people off. The state didn’t seem to be interested in prosecuting, and we can talk about why that is, but lo and behold, the state did not. And eventually the feds just decided they’d had enough. This was blatant. This was well-known. There were lines right out the door. It was under aged children were having access, no ID. There were reports of firearms being involved, and this was a mess. I don’t think anybody should ever be arrested for marijuana. This was a lot harder than that. So after that there was kind of a shock amongst the town like, Oh my God, this was going on. And it was at that time that I do believe roughly that the feds also began investigating Big John. Now Big John’s shop, Riding High, completely different part of town, down on Battery Street.

The allegations were that he was selling some cannabis out of his store as well. The fact showed that there was ID, there was never any sales to minors. There was never any firearms involved. There was never any other type of substances involved, but the feds decided to begin an investigation and conducted a 16-month investigation into Big John.

TG Branfalt: That’s a hell of a use of federal funds.

Tim Fair: Six undercover buys. You know what the largest buyer was? $40. $40 worth of marijuana was their big bust, several $20 sales. I believe it was a $30 somewhere. After 16 months, 6-7 undercover sales. God only knows how much surveillance time. Yep. A raid a Big John’s house, his business, his property up in upstate New York, and him on his longtime partner, Samantha, were both arrested by federal agents and charged with multiple felonies for a case that honestly, even in 10 years, the feds should never be involved in this. Never.

TG Branfalt: This is DEA?

Tim Fair: This was Northern Vermont drug task force.

So a combination of DEA and local, deputized law enforcement. So yeah, that’s in the middle of an opiod epidemic, in the middle of some really serious issues. This is how the US attorney’s office in Vermont chose to utilize limited resources. And the reality is that unfortunately, we were able to keep Samantha, who was charged with both conspiracy and production, possession of edibles, she started a CBD edible company. There are a couple emails that they claimed were THC. We kept her out. John ended up having spent eight months in pre-trial detention. If it wasn’t for COVID, he may not have gotten out. His was represented by my old mentor, my former boss, Paul Balk, incredible defense attorney. The two of us worked together. I represented Samantha. He was able to get John released on a COVID concern. And when we finally went to sentencing, we were able to get probation for both Big John moving forward, and Samantha, no additional jail time for John, which was an incredible outcome.

I do wonder if not for COVID, that we would have gotten that resolution, but we did. And in a way we hope that after a 16 month investigation, after the tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on this investigation to end up with two probation sentences. Maybe this might show the US attorney’s office that their resources would be spent in a different area. But it really does show that at this point in time, anybody is fair game. And one of the things we’ve seen as a result of this kind of half legalization measure here in Vermont is an explosion of the black and gray markets. Some people going into business, trying to be on the right side of the law. And then some people go into business with no interest of being on the right side of the law, just taking advantage of the opportunities that they see and this half-assed legalization.

TG Branfalt: So with the big John Case, do you think that this would sort of have any impact on how officials may go forward with investigations and things because of the outcome that you were able to get? These guys doing probation, they didn’t get a bigger fish out of all this, right? The result isn’t really sending a message to other people, right? Probation for many people may be worth the risk. What do you think about that?

Tim Fair: Absolutely. That is the hope. If there’s any silver lining to this type of situation, if there’s any good that can come from the unbelievable disruption and impact on John and Samantha’s lives, the unnecessary, unwarranted intrusion and impact on their lives, which was significant and substantial. If any good can come of this, it’s a hope that the prosecutors, the powers that be will look and see and go, “Wow, we spent a lot of resources. We spent a lot of money a lot of time, and this is what the end result was. Did we prove our case? Yes. Did they plead guilty to selling some small amounts of marijuana to adults? Yes. Great. Was that worth it?” Interesting, going back about a decade, decade and a half, if you remember operation Pipe dreams, the FBI spent the single most ridiculous use of money over a million dollars to prosecute Tommy Chong.

TG Branfalt: Well, I was working in the paraphernalia industry when that happened, and the simple fact that it sort of led to nobody being able to say the word bong. It’s ridiculous.

Tim Fair: True, but it also led to a stopping of those type of prosecutions.

TG Branfalt: That’s true.

Tim Fair: Because the amount of resources that were spent for the result, putting Tommy Chung in jail for a while a month or two, and over a million dollars on that particular investigation. So in a parallel, we’re hoping that that will be kind of this, whether it was 50,000 whether it was 100,000, we don’t know how much they spent over 16 months. But with seven buys, with the overtime hours, with the surveillance, it was significant for what ultimately ends up being two probation sentences. The powers that be, hopefully a little bit of common sense would say, “You know what, maybe our resources are better spent somewhere else.” That’s the hope. We have yet to the wait and see what happens. One of the things, however, that the chief justice, the judge, in this case, who was the district of Vermont chief federal judge, one of the things she said was this type of behavior was not legal under state law.

So I don’t want to hear that, and it wasn’t legal under federal law, but she made a point of emphasizing the fact that sales of marijuana still are not legal in the state of Vermont as justification for the investigation and for the prosecution. So this is, again, if we could legalize, if we could establish a taxed and regulated system, now people have a very clear line. They know what they can do and know what they can’t do. And entrepreneurs and business people like John and Samantha would have a route to be able to apply, receive, and get an adult-use dispensary license.

TG Branfalt: Well, is this the biggest issue facing current Vermont, legal operators, right? People who are operating in the hemp and CBD industry. Is this gray market even though it doesn’t really impact them legally because they’re operating within the confines of both federal and state law, is this still the biggest issue facing current Vermont operators? Or is there sort of something else that may be more of a factor, I guess?

Tim Fair: For right now, there is a pretty big distinction between our hemp and CBD industries and the potential adult use industry, and the hemp and CBD industries have their own issues. Most of those on the federal level. And that is the USDA regulations coming out, being just simply unworkable, they had put forth that there needs to be a 0.3% total THC threshold for hemp, which would include THCA. And don’t want to get too much into the weeds on this, but basically putting forth a regulatory scheme that is unworkable for any hemp farmers.

TG Branfalt: Well, didn’t Vermont propose a 1% limit on THC to be considered industrial hemp?

Tim Fair: Yes. And that is under the pilot program are currently operating for this year. Unfortunately, the authorization for that pilot program runs up October 31st. So that will be good for this season. And for everything harvested this season. A big question, and a lot of concern is what happens next season? Will USDA change this or not? Because again, our authorization to act under our 2014 pilot program ends on the 31st. Vermont is a very strong advocate of the 1% total THC standard, which I think is still ridiculously low. However, it is workable. That can be met. A 0.3 on total, it’s ridiculous.

You’ll have to burn every crop. So that’s kind of the big thing right now on the implementation of these USDA regulations, sampling, lab results, not having a robust laboratory system yet, not having any clear standardization for testing. Do we test wet, do we test dry? What’s 0.3? There’s still a lot of open questions within the hemp and CBD realm. So those are kind of separate from our adult use. And frankly, it’s interesting because the hemp and the CBD are looking more at the federal side, the USDA, because there have been regulations at the federal level, while our adult use industry is looking solely at state law, obviously because we have seen no federal motion there.

TG Branfalt: How tough has the last couple of years been for you as an attorney having to figure all this shit out as it comes along?

Tim Fair: I love it. It’s interesting. It’s challenging. Learning this stuff is not the bad part. I love that. Especially at least with tax and reg here in Vermont, the challenges are significant in terms of A, we’ve got 60% approval, but that leaves about 40% who are still opposed. So we have a very strong prohibitionist contingent here in Vermont, more than most people would think. And there’s also internal conflict within the community about S.54 in particular and our tax and regulated bill. There are a lot of cultivators who are very against any sort of regulatory scheme in this bill as well, for some, for very valid reasons and others for some misinterpreted reasons. So it’s kind of fighting a two-front war. We’re trying to explain and deal with the prohibitionists while at the same time, almost having a civil war within the own cannabis community about whether or not tax and regulate as it’s currently proposed is going to be good for the state. So that’s …

TG Branfalt: Do you mind telling me where you stand on it? Do you want to…

Tim Fair: So, as you may or may not know, Vermont was the first to pass legalization, legislatively. Since then, Illinois did as well, different set up than we have here. We didn’t get to do it by ballot initiative. We don’t have the option for ballot initiative. So as a part of any legislative solution, any laws that get passed in a legislative fashion requires compromise. I understand that, I do, there are going to be provisions that we’re going to have to hold our noses and accept in order to get it across the finish line. At which point, once we establish a cannabis control board, now we can start petitioning to try to make the changes that we need to. That is what I do believe needs to happen if we’re ever going to get it over the finish line. However, there is a strong contingent that says, no, we can’t fix it later.

We need to fix it first and pass a better bill. In an ideal world, yes. Is that legislatively going to work? It’s simply not. We have 40% of prohibitionists and in order to get the votes needed again, this is the legislative process and it’s not always great. And sometimes the compromises are not what we would ideally make, but I’ve also been working on this for almost four years. We really started trying to get a taxed and regulated system moved in 2016 for decriminalization. It took from 2016 to now to get a bill. If this bill does not pass, as many people want to kill the bill, we are looking at potentially two, three, maybe four years before we get another one.

TG Branfalt: Well, so in this upcoming election, it’s sort of a big deal for cannabis advocates in Vermont because it appears that Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman is poised to challenge Phil Scott, a Republican. And anyone who has met Zuckerman knows that he is supportive of legalized cannabis, and he’s an agriculture guy, right? So if this doesn’t pass, wouldn’t the potential election of Zuckerman sort of break that stalemate?

Tim Fair: Well, we have to remember, the executive branch, the governor, we had the legislative branch is passing the laws. Will there be a stronger push from the executive branch and the governor’s office to get something done if David gets elected? Absolutely. Would it be beneficial to getting this done quicker? Absolutely. That is an uphill climb, unfortunately. I know David very well. I would consider him a personal friend. We’ve been friends for quite some time. I’ve supported him in his elections. I’ve turned on phone banking for him when he was running for Lieutenant governor. He’s a great guy. He’s an organic farmer. He is just the right values. But the reality is that Phil Scott, who is a Republican, is a very centralized Republican. He has disavowed Trump, and he has about an 83%, I believe right now, approval rating in how he’s handled the COVID pandemic.

TG Branfalt: 83%?

Tim Fair: 83%, he’s done a good job.

David needs to frame this election properly if he has a chance. And that is yes, Phil Scott’s done a good job and he’s done what any rational sane governor would do, which is listen to the scientists and implement what his department of health is telling him is the safest bet. With Republicans these days, that is incredible in and of itself to run the sentence, but not as anything special as anything that any rational person would do and frame the election is looking into the future.

Okay. Yes, Phil Scott has done a good job. Now, what he has not done is propose or come up or plan for how we are going to recover from this pandemic and from the impact that it’s had. And if David can frame it like that, not looking at the present, but looking into the future, putting forth a strategic plan of which cannabis legalization tax and regularization would be a central part of, I think it has a chance. But of course with everything going on right now, nobody has ever seen anything like this before with what we see in Washington, combined with the pandemic, combined with a uncertainty about what the next 90 days is going to bring between now and the election. I think there’s a lot of variables. And it’s really hard to predict, I think, much harder than in previous elections.

TG Branfalt: How did the local CBD businesses fair during the pandemic that did you guys see a whole lot get sort of shut down or decide to close their doors for good? What’d you see on the ground?

Tim Fair: We have seen a handful of brick and mortar shops closed down for good. Three-month shut down was incredibly detrimental to a lot of businesses. Most of the CBD shops here in Vermont had just sprung up within the last year.

TG Branfalt: Were they considered essential businesses during the shutdown?

Tim Fair: No. So medical cannabis dispensaries were, but CBD stores were not. So there was the brick and mortar shut down. And even now that Vermont is pretty much moved along with our reopening, brick and mortar retail is still taking a huge hit. One of the biggest group of customers for retail here in Vermont are Canadians, a lot of Quebecois and Canadian tourists would come down here to spend quite a bit of money. I would estimate close to a billion dollars a year from Canadian tourists. And of course the border has been shut. So that’s a huge percentage of revenue that has just been completely shut off, has not yet returned. And a lot of people are very skeptical about returning into a brick and mortar shops. So retail in general is taking a huge hit and especially some of the newer CBD stores too have taken a pretty big hit. The people who are doing alright are the ones manufacturing products and doing online sales. Those have seen, if anything an increase.

TG Branfalt: We’ve covered quite a bit of ground here, man. And like we’ve sort of talked about, the last couple of years, you’ve been learning all these new rules, regulations, laws, helping both businesses and individuals in criminal cases, advising businesses, and defending individuals. So right now when it comes to entrepreneurs, what’s your advice for them when it comes to sort of navigating an entirely new set of rules and operations?

Tim Fair: A, have a game plan, a solid game plan. Know why you’re getting into the industry, know what you want to accomplish and then be willing to pivot on a dime. Those are kind of the main rules right now. The successful businesses we’ve seen have had a good understanding of the regulatory framework, know what they can and cannot do and have operated within that framework. Though, businesses we’ve seen that have not been that successful are the ones, well, we’re just going to wing it and see what happens.

Certain cases, I guess that would be a good plan. In this particular industry, it’s just not right now. And an understanding that there are still a lot of unknowns, understanding of the federal/state conflict, which has created a lot of problems for hemp, CBD, and medical and adult use just straight across the industry, understand 280E, understand the legislative process and that things may not work. These are understandings that if people have and people are willing to listen and learn and incorporate into their business plan. And that brings success. Anything else? People lost a lot of money last year like you know, the hemp industry here in Vermont because they didn’t plan.

TG Branfalt: Yeah. And it was sad to see because it was such a robust industry. Everyone was really, really excited about hemp. And then, even in upstate New York and then the bottom sort of fell out. A, Lack of processing and demand and that sort of thing. And that’s a conversation for another time. So where can people find out more about you more about Vermont Cannabis Solutions, get in touch with you?

Tim Fair: Well, my partner, Andrew Subin, and I will be presenting it in NECANN, New England online cannabis conference, coming up next month, which we’re very excited about. You can find us at www.vermontcannabissolutions.com. And other than that, give us a call. 802-504-weed. We love talking about this all day.

TG Branfalt: Wait, wait, wait. What’d you say the number was?

Tim Fair: Our number. 802-540-weed, 9333. I know. We were really excited when they got us that number too, we didn’t ask for it.

TG Branfalt: You definitely asked for it.

Tim Fair: We didn’t. The customer service guy comes in and he’s got this look on his face and he’s like, “You guys are either going to love this or hate this. But I got you 540-weed.” It was amazing.

TG Branfalt: We should have led with that. One day, I think you’re going to have a Saul Goodman type commercial. It’s just going to be, 802, weed. It’d be fantastic.

Tim Fair: First of all, like we want to stay away from the pot leaves and the whole Bob Marley thing and try to be professional. And then he comes in, and we just could not. We’re like, “All right, we love it. It’s just inevitable.”

TG Branfalt: No, you could have a very straight-laced commercial. And then at the end to be like, “Oh, by the way, our number is weed.”

Tim Fair: I love it.

TG Branfalt: I’m going to produce this for you.

Tim Fair: We’ll be waiting.

TG Branfalt: This is Tim Fair. He’s a Vermont-based attorney, founder of Vermont Cannabis Solutions. They advise canna-businesses in the state of Vermont, and he also defends individuals accused of cannabis-related criminal offenses, super swell guy. Dude, it’s nice to have you on again. And hopefully, it’s not another year.

Tim Fair: TG, great to see you. And hopefully we’ll be able to meet and see in person before too, too long.

TG Branfalt: Thanks man.

Tim Fair: Thanks a lot, brother. Have a good one.

TG Branfalt: You can find more episodes of the ganjapreneur.com podcast in the podcast section of Ganjapreneur.com on Spotify and in the Apple iTunes store. On the Ganjapreneur.com website, you’ll find the latest cannabis news and cannabis jobs updated daily, along with transcripts of this podcast, you can also download the Ganjapreneur.com app in iTunes and Google Play. This episode was engineered by Trim Media House. I’ve been your host TG Branfalt.

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Vermont Legalizes Adult-Use Cannabis Sales

Vermont is the 11th state to allow recreational cannabis sales to adults after Republican Gov. Phil Scott allowed the tax-and-regulate bill to become law without his signature. Vermont lawmakers legalized adult-use cannabis possession in 2018 but did not include sales mechanisms.

In a letter to Senate Secretary John Bloomer, Scott said the measure addresses conditions he had laid out, which prevented his veto of the reforms. Those conditions included municipal control over whether to allow recreational sales, cannabis use education and prevention programs and funding, and a plan for highway safety.

The bill requires 30 percent of cannabis excise taxes to be used for education and prevention efforts, up to $10 million annually, and portions of the tax to be used for afterschool and summer learning programs. The bill includes a 14 percent excise tax and a 6 percent sales tax on cannabis purchases.

The measure does not include provisions for mandatory roadside saliva testing for suspected intoxicated drivers, which Scott had supported, but it does allow testimony from Drug Recognition Experts and saliva test results, if performed, to be admissible in court.

In his letter, Scott voiced concerns about the impact of the bill on “communities historically most negatively affected by cannabis enforcement,” saying they “were not meaningfully incorporated” into the bill. Scott said during a debate last week that he might veto the measure after getting feedback from social justice groups who contend the bill does not do enough to address social equity. The measure does include some priority licensing for social equity applicants.

“Of primary concern is the licensing construct which will disproportionately benefit Vermont’s existing medical dispensaries by giving them sole access to integrated licenses and an unfair head start on market access. This creates an inequitable playing held both for our smaller minority and women-owned business applicants, and other small Vermont growers and entrepreneurs.” – Scott in the Oct. 7 letter

Tim Fair, attorney and founder of Vermont Cannabis Solutions, described the bill as “imperfect, but a great start.”

“What’s really exciting is how accessible the industry will be for the average Vermonter,” he told Ganjapreneur in a text message. “Anyone who wants to be part of it will have their chance.”

Scott did sign a measure that provides for automatic expungement of previous low-level cannabis crimes, including possession under an ounce. It also permits adults to grow one extra mature and one extra immature cannabis plant.

While Vermont was the first state to legalize cannabis for adults via the legislative process, it is the second state – behind Illinois – to legalize adult-use cannabis sales, which are expected to begin in the state in October 2022.

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Vermont Gov. May Veto Adult-Use Cannabis Sales Bill

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R) said during a gubernatorial debate on Tuesday that “a lot of groups” – including racial equity groups – are asking him to veto the bill legalizing cannabis sales in the state, according to a Marijuana Moment report.

Last month a coalition of Vermont advocacy organizations – NOFA-VT, Rural Vermont, Trace, and Vermont Growers Association – released statements opposing the measure. Activists cite provisions of the bill such as new fingerprint requirements for medical cannabis caregivers and the nation’s first THC cap on cannabis flower and concentrates as primary issues.

“We come together to say ‘no’ to S.54 in order to ensure that the people most hurt by this history of policy and policing are the ones who will most greatly benefit from the legalization of cannabis in Vermont, and who will determine what that means,” the groups said.

The Vermont Racial Justice Alliance also came out against the measure, calling it in a letter to Scott “flawed from start to finish.”

“In terms of the pot bill, I haven’t made up my mind about that. I have received a lot of groups – racial equity groups – that are asking me to veto it. I was leaning towards letting it go, but I’m really questioning that at this point. I want to hear and listen from them.” – Scott during the debate via Marijuana Moment

His opponent, progressive Democrat David Zuckerman said during the debate that “there are many provisions in the bill that do address support for minority- and women-owned businesses. And there’s definitely more work to do.”

“We know in the next administration, we’ll have to work to improve on that bill,” he said. “But to delay it for another year is economic opportunity delayed, it is also criminal justice reform delayed, and we need to be moving forward and do more in the future.”

The measure garnered support from other groups, including the Marijuana Policy Project. MPP Executive Director Steve Hawkins, who is Black, said that if the legalization movement “insisted on every measure being perfect, Vermonters might still be criminals for possessing cannabis – medical or otherwise.”

“S.54 and S.234 represent incredible progress for consumer safety, Vermont’s economy, and racial and social justice,” he said in an op-ed published last week. “They deserve Vermonters’ support and Scott’s signature.”

The measure passed the Senate with a veto-proof margin but did not meet that threshold in the House.

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Vermont Lawmakers Finalize Bill for Cannabis Marketplace

Lawmakers in the Vermont House and Senate came to an agreement last night over legislation to legalize and regulate adult-use cannabis sales. The bill S.54 previously passed both legislative bodies but in different forms. Now, those differences have been reconciled and the bill needs final approval from the House and Senate it heads to the governor’s desk.

The bill includes priority licensing for small cultivators, women-owned businesses, and for businesses owned by people of color and other over-policed communities. The bill would also create a new cannabis commission that will regulate the medical and adult-use markets, and would require independent lab testing of all cannabis products sold in the new marketplace.

The bill will also require law enforcement to acquire a search warrant before conducting any saliva-based sobriety tests, and such tests would not be allowed during traffic stops.

Gov. Phil Scott (R) has not yet indicated whether he intends to sign the legislation.

“This final agreement has been a long time coming. Legislators should be applauded for their patience and their persistence. Vermont urgently needs the jobs, business opportunities, and tax revenue that S. 54 will provide. We hope Gov. Scott will see the wisdom in signing this bill into law.” — Matt Simon, Political Director for Marijuana Policy Project New England, via Heady Vermont

The regulations bill is not the only cannabis proposal making its way through Vermont’s legislative process: lawmakers there recently approved cannabis expungement legislation, as well.

In 2018, Vermont lawmakers made history as the first U.S. state legislature to approve cannabis legalization. That bill, however, stopped short of establishing a regulated marketplace.

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Vermont Lawmakers Close to Finalizing Expungement Reforms

Vermont House and Senate leaders are set to pass a measure to automatically expunge criminal records for possession of two ounces or less of cannabis, VT Digger reports. The plan would also decriminalize possession up to two ounces – currently, only possession of up to one ounce is legal under the state’s legalization law.

The proposals would effectively expand the state’s legalization law and comes as the Legislature is attempting to come to an agreement on a deal to allow taxed-and-regulated sales which were not included in the 2018 reforms.

Rep. Maxine Grad (D), the chair of the House Judiciary Committee noted that people of color are disproportionately harmed by cannabis charges. Following the passage of the adult-use law, Chittenden and Windsor counties held “expungement days” to help people complete petitions to wipe the cannabis-related charges from their criminal records.

“Criminal records are a barrier to employment, serving in the military, student loans, housing, and it’s very important to help folks with these criminal records get justice and clean their records.” – Grad to VT Digger

Sen. Dick Sears (D), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee called the reforms a priority. House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D) – who has so far impeded progress for rolling out a cannabis marketplace in the state – said she is “totally supportive” of the expungement measure.

Critics of the bill to create a cannabis industry in Vermont have said the measure does not go far enough in addressing the racial disparities of the ‘War on Drugs.’ Supporters of the bill contend that the law would require the Cannabis Control Board to prioritize licenses for minority- and women-owned businesses.

Earlier this year, both chambers approved a bill to legalize sales; however, lawmakers were unable to come to a compromise on a final version of the bill, which ultimately stalled its progress.

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Vermont’s Castleton University Launches Cannabis Certificate Program

Castleton University in Vermont is launching a Cannabis Studies Certificate program that will cover the business, cultivation, history, and culture of cannabis.

Vermont’s Castleton University has launched a Cannabis Studies Certificate program; it is the first higher education institution in the state to offer a full cannabis-centric program, VT Digger reports. The program includes three courses: Canna-Business; Cannabis, Cultivation and Care; and Cannabis, Culture and Consciousness, along with an internship component.

There are about a dozen students enrolled to complete the program, which includes cannabis industry economics, sociological and anthropological topics, and the history of the plant and policies.

Philip Lamy, a Castleton professor who helped develop the program, called it “unique.”

“Most of what I’ve seen across the country is colleges and universities focusing on cultivation, CBD production and the medicinal effects of marijuana but very few that are looking at the history, the sociology, the business aspects of it. We’re doing all of it.” – Lamy to VT Digger

The cost of each course in the program runs about $1,500 for in-state students and full-time students must be enrolled in 12 non-Cannabis Studies classes in order to receive full-time federal student financial aid, the report says.

Some faculty have voiced concerns over the program, namely that it doesn’t have an individual or public health component.

Katy Culpo, an associate professor in the Department of Health, Human Movement and Sports, said that the course offerings in the program “needed balance” and that not including the warning messaging would be a “huge mistake.”

“If it was truly a studies program of any substance – alcohol, tobacco, heroin, cannabis – you would need a least one course that really takes a hard look at what we know and don’t know about that substance, whether that’s from a pharmacological perspective, or a psychological, social, biological perspective,” she said in an interview with VT Digger.

Lamy indicated he would consider adding those topics as the program expands.

Adult cannabis use and possession were legalized in Vermont in 2018 but the law did not include taxed-and-regulated sales. Last month, House lawmakers approved a plan to legalize an industry. That measure is currently in a conference committee to align amendments before it moves to Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s desk for final approval.

Colleges and universities in states with both adult-use and medical cannabis legalization have rolled out a variety of cannabis education programs alongside their traditional courses.

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Lawmakers Approve Adult-Use Sales In Vermont

Vermont lawmakers in the House of Representatives have given initial approval to a bill that would legalize adult-use cannabis sales and create a regulated marketplace for the industry, according to a WCAX report.

Lawmakers voted 90-54 in favor of the bill during preliminary voting on Wednesday evening; the House will reconvene Thursday afternoon to debate additional amendments before taking an official, final vote on the issue. If Wednesday’s vote is upheld, the bill will head to a conference committee where amendments to the Senate-approved version will be addressed.

The bill would establish an adult-use cannabis regulatory body called the Cannabis Control Board to oversee the industry. If it becomes law, cannabis products would be taxed at 20 percent under the bill and municipal authorities would not be able to add any additional local taxes; THC potency in commercial cannabis products, meanwhile, would be capped at 30 percent for flower and 60 percent for concentrates.

The bill originated in the Senate and passed through the House Government Operations Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee, and the House Appropriations Committee before reaching a full floor vote.

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R) has said he would support a regulated adult-use industry, so long as law enforcement in the state could rely on saliva-based intoxication tests for cannabis.

In 2018, Vermont was the first state in the U.S. to legalize adult-use cannabis via the legislature, not by a voter ballot initiative. Lawmakers then, however, only legalized the possession and home cultivation of cannabis, although polls suggest that Vermont residents strongly support the creation of an adult-use cannabis marketplace.

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Vermont Inches Closer to Adult-Use Cannabis Market

Regulations to establish an adult-use cannabis marketplace in Vermont cleared yet another hurdle this week after the House Appropriations Committee voted 6-5 to advance the proposal, Marijuana Moment reports. The bill, S. 54, is expected to receive an official vote by the full House within a few days.

Vermont lawmakers passed cannabis legalization language in 2018 but stopped short of legalizing a commercial industry.

The proposed regulations would establish a licensing and regulatory structure for an adult-use cannabis marketplace in the state, including new business licenses and a new regulatory body — the Cannabis Control Board — to oversee the industry. The bill also includes potency limits for cannabis flower products (30 percent THC) and concentrates (60 percent), advertising restrictions for cannabis products, a ban on flavored vaporizer products, and a study to foster the future and responsible growth of the industry.

After its latest adjustments, the new rules would tax cannabis at 20 percent and would block local jurisdictions from adding additional taxes; medical cannabis patients, however, would be exempt from the taxes.

The bill had already passed the House Government Operations Committee unanimously and the House Ways and Means Committee in an 8-3 vote. The bill passed the Senate, where it originated, in a 23-5 vote.

Vermont residents strongly support the creation of a regulated cannabis marketplace, polls suggest.

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Psychedelics Decriminalization Bill Introduced In Vermont

Vermont state Rep. Brian Cina (P) has introduced legislation that would decriminalize three psychedelic substances — psilocybin, ayahuasca, and peyote — as well as kratom throughout the state. First reported by Marijuana Moment, the legislation would specifically make exemptions for the substances in Vermont’s controlled substances list.

“Plants, especially plant medicines, should be accessible to people. Use of plant medicine should be considered a health care issue, not a criminal issue.” — Cina, via Marijuana Moment

It’s still unknown whether the bill poses much chance in the state legislature, but even its introduction will spur hope among advocates for psychedelic policy reforms, who lately have spearheaded efforts in dozens of local communities across the U.S.

Vermont’s latest bid, however, is unique because it originated with lawmakers, not activists — similarly, Vermont in 2018 became the first state to end cannabis prohibition by legislative action, not by an act of voters. While that action ultimately ended cannabis prohibition, however, it did not establish a state-legal cannabis marketplace, although lawmakers appear poised to tackle that issue during the coming session.

Last year, voters in Denver, Colorado chose to decriminalize psilocybin; later, the city council in Oakland, California voted unanimously to decriminalize psychedelics including psilocybin and ayahuasca.

Activists in California and Oregon, meanwhile, have already launched efforts to put the issue of statewide reforms on the ballots for 2020.

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USPS Intercepts Hemp Shipment from Vermont

A 25-pound hemp shipment from Vermont has been intercepted by the U.S. Postal Service on its way to an out-of-state buyer, according to a VT Digger report. The hemp was mailed by Big CBD, whose owner Jimmy Goldsmith said the package was “stepped on” in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Jon Brigati, Goldsmith’s in-house counsel, said the company has a letter on file with their local post office in Hardwick that details the contents of each package sent from Big CBD and he was confident that authorities would send back the package after tests come back as hemp. Brigati added that all future shipments would be labeled with something like “Industrial Hemp” in large letters on the outside of the package and include test results inside the box.

This is, at least, the second hemp shipment from Vermont intercepted by authorities since November when the NYPD confiscated a 106-pound shipment originating from the Green Mountain State and arrested the recipient. Police were tipped off about that package by FedEx and the Brooklyn District Attorney finally dropped the charges last week; however, police have yet to return the plants. The attorney for the hemp recipient has indicated he plans on filing a $10 million lawsuit against the police department and the city.

In June, USPS updated its Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail regulations to clarify that hemp and CBD products are legal to mail as long as the products comply with local laws and compliance records associated with the contents are maintained.

For Big CBD, it’s the first time the company has had any of its products seized.

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The Vermont Capitol Building in Montpelier, Vermont — VT is the first state to legalize cannabis via the legislature.

34 Cannabis Plants Found in Vermont Statehouse Garden

34 cannabis plants were planted in the flower beds of the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier, according to local media reports. It’s unclear whether the plants were hemp or of the THC-rich variety as the plants were too immature to differentiate.

Vermont Capitol Police Chief Matthew Romei told CNN that they were not going to test the plants because they were not going to pursue a criminal case; although he said authorities “have no thoughts on why someone would plant it.”

“It’s legal to cultivate but there are limits on where you can do it, and the statehouse flower beds certainly aren’t one of those permissible sites. If there is a typical Vermont story this is probably it.” – Romei, to NBC 5

The plants were reported to police by visitors at the Statehouse on Monday. Romei told NBC Boston that the plants would be removed. Romei indicated that this isn’t the first time cannabis plants have been discovered among the Statehouse flowers.

“The beds are maintained … very well by Buildings and General Services,” Romei explained to WBRC6. “They really know how to run a flower bed. It’s an impressive display every year but I don’t think they included this in their annual rollout.”

Under the legislature-approved adult-use law, individuals 21-and-older are permitted to grow up to six cannabis plants – two mature and four immature – in their homes. That law took effect July 1, 2018.

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The Vermont Capitol Building in Montpelier, Vermont photographed on a colorful, autumn afternoon.

Vermont Cannabis Sales Bill Likely Dead Until Next Year

Legislative plans to pass cannabis tax-and-regulate laws in Vermont have stalled and are likely dead for the session, VT Digger reports. The bill is currently before the House Ways and Means Committee and, while Democratic House Majority Leader Jill Krowinski called the situation “fluid,” she indicated even getting the bill to the floor for a vote is “looking less and less likely.”

House Speaker Mitzi Johnson told VT Digger that creating a legal cannabis market is not one of her top issues and she is willing to wait until next year to pass the legislation.

“My attitude all along on that bill is that we need to be thorough on the policy. The policy needs to drive the timeline, the timeline cannot drive the policy.” – Johnson, to VT Digger

Republican Gov. Phil Scott has promised not to support any tax-and-regulate bill that does not include provisions for roadside testing for cannabis impairment and told NECN that the state could wait to pass the reforms until next year. Scott has also indicated he believes the bill as written violates the state constitution because it doesn’t allow governors the authority to determine the makeup of the panel to regulate the industry.

Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, who supports cannabis legalization and taxed-and-regulated sales, told VT Digger that “a few people at the top of the House” are the real challenge in getting the bill passed.

“It’s clearly a missed opportunity to bring the underground market above ground, generate revenue to put towards prevention, highway safety, and invest in any number of things,” he said in the report.

The Ways and Means Committee has only had the bill since the beginning of the month but Committee Chair Janet Ancel, a Democrat, said she had concerns that taxes would be used to run the Cannabis Control Commission for the first two or three years while the industry matures and tax revenues derived from it are able to foot the bill of about $1 million per year.

Cannabis legalization took effect in Vermont last June but the reforms did not include a legalized industry. Vermont is still the only state to enact adult-use legalization via the legislative process.

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Vermont Gov. Disputes Senate-Backed Cannabis Sales Bill

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott’s legal counsel told lawmakers that the bill to legalize adult-use sales in the state violates the state Constitution because it doesn’t allow governors the authority to determine the makeup of the panel to regulate the industry, VTDigger reports.

Under the law, passed last month by the Senate, the governor would only appoint the board’s chair, but the governor’s counsel Jaye Pershing Johnson said the state Constitution provided the governor with the power to appoint all of the members of the board.

“When the Legislature decides they will both create the laws and structure the entities in such a way so as to divest the governor of his constitutional duty, that’s where I say that there’s a separation of powers concern.” – Johnson, to VTDigger

Vermont governors do appoint all of the members of the state Board of Liquor and Lottery.

Betsyann Wrask, an attorney with the office of Legislative Council, disagrees with Johnson’s interpretation, arguing the state Constitution “does not state that an Executive Branch entity,” such as the Cannabis Control Board, “cannot be comprised of a majority of legislative appointees.”

Scott, a Republican who has vetoed legislation based on separation of powers issues in the past, indicated last week he believed he needed more control over the board if it would be an executive branch function. He also promised not to sign the regulation measure if it didn’t include roadside saliva testing, but he didn’t go so far to say he would veto it.

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Former Vermont Gov. Dean Joins Tilray Board

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has joined the board of licensed Canadian cannabis company Tilray, according to a VTDigger report.

During his five terms as governor from 1991-2003, Dean was against all forms of legalization but told VTDigger that he changed his position after conversations with his daughter – a public defender in the Bronx – and recent research on CBD.

In 1997, Dean told the New York Times he was against even industrial hemp legalization, claiming that “the principal interest of the advocates is to legalize marijuana.” During his 2003 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, his website said that decriminalizing drugs sends “a very bad message to young people” and making cannabis legally available alongside alcohol and tobacco was “not a good idea.”

In the report, Dean, a physician, said that his daughter helped change his mind on legalization, pointing to the racial bias in cannabis enforcement.

“Then it became pretty obvious that poor kids of color with bad educations, they already had three strikes against them and the fourth was having a joint. Which after all is probably not as bad as alcohol.” – Dean, to VTDigger

Additionally, Dean said, he found the recent studies on CBD “reasonable” – which he didn’t a decade ago. He said this isn’t the first issue he had “flipped” on, adding that he came around on needle exchanges after seeing the programs in action.

On Tilray, Dean said the company got his attention because it’s run like “a pharmaceutical plant” and “run by Yale graduates.” However, Dean maintained that “black market” cannabis products “[kill] people.”

“There is a lot of really bad stuff going on now,” he said in the interview. “Maybe it would be a good idea if people had a predictable, reliable brand, and not something off the black market.”

Dean does believe Vermont – which legalized cannabis in 2016 for adult use but stopped short of legalizing industry – will move forward with a taxed and regulated regime.

He’s not the first politician to enter the space that was once leery of legalization. Last year, former Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner, a Republican, joined the board of Acreage Holdings; in February, he was appointed the honorary chairman of pro-cannabis lobbying group the National Cannabis Roundtable.

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Vermont Statehouse

Vermont Senate Votes In Favor of Adult-Use Cannabis Sales

The Vermont Senate has voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bill that would create a regulated cannabis market in the state, according to a story by My Champlain Valley.

The vote was 23-5 in favor — a majority that makes the approval immune to even a governor’s veto.

The bill would create a state Cannabis Control Board comprised of five full-time members. Two would be appointed by the Governor; the other three would be appointed one each by the state Attorney General, Speaker of the House, and Senate Committee on Committees. The board would develop all rules and regulatory structure, including the licensing of retailers, cultivators, and labs. The Board would be expected to begin its rulemaking by October 1, 2019.

In Vermont, cannabis is already legal for adults to possess, use, and cultivate but the commercial distribution of the plant remains forbidden.

Cannabis would be taxed 10% at retail with an additional 1% available to municipalities. Medical cannabis would not be taxed. The Cannabis Board may also develop additional fees.

The bill would also expand the existing medical cannabis program, opening it for “any disease, condition or treatment as determined in writing by a patient’s healthcare professional.” Under the bill, the state’s retail marketplace would be expected to launch by April 1, 2021.

The Senate must vote one more time on the bill before it moves to the Vermont House of Representatives for consideration, however, which is expected on Friday.

 

 

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Montpelier, VT

Vermont Bill Establishing Commercial Cannabis Passes Committee

A bill that would create a regulated cannabis retail market in Vermont has passed the Vermont Senate Judiciary Committee, Seven Days reports.

The bill passed the committee by a 4-1 vote in favor on Friday. The legislation will still need to pass the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee before being considered on the floor of the state Senate.

The bill would create a state Cannabis Control Board to regulate the market’s retail sales. Cannabis possession and cultivation are already legal in Vermont, but there is no way to legally buy or sell cannabis yet.

If approved, the Cannabis Control Board would be tasked with issuing permits for retail cannabis stores by April 1, 2021. Lawmakers decided not to allow the state’s existing medical cannabis dispensaries to sell to the general public one year earlier than that date, though the House version of the bill contains that provision.

The bill would tax cannabis at 10 percent at the state level and up to 2 percent more by local governments. Cannabis sales would not be subject to Vermont‘s standard retail sales tax.

Chairperson for the Senate Judiciary Committee Dick Sears said that the legislation could make its way to the floor of the state Senate by early March.

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Vermont Supreme Court

Burnt Cannabis Odor Not Grounds For Search, Vermont Supreme Court Rules

Vermont’s Supreme Court ruled last week that the smell of burned or burning cannabis is not legal grounds for police to initiate a search, according to a Leafly news report.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit against the state for the actions of a Vermont state trooper in 2014.

The trooper pulled over Greg Zullo of Rutland, Vermont in March of that year, claiming that snow had been covering Zullo’s registration sticker. After the trooper smelled cannabis, he asked to search the car. Zullo refused the search; however, he did allow the trooper to search his person. The trooper then had the car towed.

After a legal search, a grinder and pipe with cannabis residue was found. Cannabis, however, has been decriminalized in Vermont since 2013. This prompted the ACLU to step in on Zullo’s behalf. Lawyers and judges tried the case through a complicated web of “reasonable suspicion,” “probable cause,” and a variety of state statutes.

After the ruling — passed down by Associate Justice Harold E. Eaton, Jr. — a binding legal precedent has been set across the state. The smell of cannabis smoke is no longer legal grounds for a police search in Vermont.

Zullo is now allowed to seek restitution from the state for damages. The full decision, including details of the case, is available online.

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Drive Thru

Drive-Thru CBD Available in Vermont

A former bank has been turned into a drive-thru CBD dispensary in Battleboro, Vermont, the Battleboro Reformer reports.

Ceres Natural Remedies opened for business in early November, offering convenient access to CBD-only products.

“We are constantly looking for ways to make the buying experience more convenient while still maintaining the same quality of service to our customers, many of whom have debilitating health issues that make getting around harder. We think this will set a new standard for delivery in our industry here in Vermont and throughout New England in the future.” — Shayne Lynn, Ceres Natural Remedies and Southern Vermont Wellness CEO, via the Reformer

While currently anyone 18 and older can purchase CBD products, Southern Vermont Wellness hopes to be able to provide THC products through a similar drive-thru experience for registered medical cannabis patients in the future as well. Registered patients will be able to order THC products online and then pick them up at the drive-thru window through the soon-to-be-deployed system.

All the products currently for sale are hemp-based, with many using hemp grown locally by the Mettawee Valley Hemp Company. The products range from edibles to capsules, oils, vapes, and pet treats.

Cannabis is legal in Vermont for medical and adult-use purposes, but there is not — and there are not currently plans for — a taxed-and-regulated commercial market for recreational cannabis products.

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Vermont Thieves Rob Hemp Farm Mistaking Crops for Cannabis

Police in Colchester, Vermont report that thieves have been stealing hemp from a local farm, mistakenly believing the plants to be cannabis, according to a WCAX report.

Police say there have been six different intrusions at the farm and that 12 arrests have been made, so far.

The farm in question is Humble Roots Horticulture, operated by farmer Evan Fuller. Fuller said that the farm has heightened security to include 24-hour surveillance, seven days per week, via security cameras. The farm has also acquired pepper ball guns (which fire nonlethal, pepper spray projectiles), bulletproof vests, and an electric fence.

Police spokespeople said that the thieves were looking to steal cannabis plants, not hemp plants, but their ignorance is starting to cost farmers thousands of dollars, as any crop that is stolen — even if it’s found and later returned — must be destroyed.

“It’s really frustrating,” said Fuller, who grows the hemp for oil to be used in balms or salves.

“It’s actually running into the hundreds and thousands of dollars in losses for this Farm, and each plant is worth a lot of money. And people are not only taking, but damaging the crop as they go in as well.” — Colchester Police Chief Doug Allen, via WCAX

Colchester police warned the community via Facebook that anyone considering robbing a hemp farm should know that just two plant’s worth of hemp is valuable enough (about $900) to constitute grand larceny, which is a felony charge.

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Vermont Attorney General Clarifies Cannabis Sales Not Legal

The office of the Attorney General of Vermont issued a clarification this week that, under Vermont law, the sale or commercial gifting of cannabis is still illegal.

“Act 86 does not legalize the sale of marijuana. Any transfer of marijuana for money, barter, or other legal consideration remains illegal under Vermont law.” — Office of the Attorney General of Vermont, via Vermont.gov

Vermont lawmakers voted in January to legalize cannabis possession and cultivation, but sales and distribution remain illegal. But like other decriminalized jurisdictions, Vermonters have embraced the gray market and some businesses are strategizing workarounds that are technically legal under Act 86, but the attorney general’s advisory could throw a serious wrench in the works for anyone attempting to make money from the transfer of cannabis.

The advisory goes on to specify that selling an item or service, such as a t-shirt or other merchandise, with an included “gift” of cannabis is illegal. Attempting to charge for the delivery of “gifted” cannabis is also an illegal loophole. Also stated in the advisory is that any type of gifting, even a non-commercial traditional gift, is definitively illegal to anyone under the age of 21.

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Vermont Adult-Use Legalization Takes Effect Sunday

Vermont’s adult-use cannabis laws take effect this weekend; Vermont was the first state to legalize via the legislature instead of a ballot initiative.

Starting Sunday, July 1 adults in Vermont will be able to possess up to one ounce of cannabis and home grow up to six cannabis plants, two of which may be mature and up to four immature. Adults will also be able to possess in their home the full weight of cannabis harvests they perform. The law also introduces penalties for driving under the influence of cannabis with enhanced penalties for driving under the influence with a minor in the car.

“The majority of Vermonters, like the majority of the American public, desire to live in a community where responsible adults who choose to consume cannabis are no longer criminalized or stigmatized. Vermont lawmakers and Gov. Scott are to be recognized for responding to the will of the voters, rather than choosing to ignore them. Vermont is leading by example. Lawmakers in other states would be wise to follow.” — Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, in a press release

The law was signed into effect by Republican Gov. Phil Scott in January; the governor had indicated support for the bill even before it reached his desk.

“This is a libertarian approach. I’ve said I’m not philosophically opposed to it. I know there are diverse opinions … as to whether we should move forward, but I still firmly believe that what you do in your own home should be your business, as long as it doesn’t affect someone else.” — Gov. Phil Scott, via Seven Days.

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New Vermont Hemp Rules Take Effect July 1

New rules for Vermont’s industrial hemp program will take effect July 1, according to a WCAX report. The state-level changes seek to reduce the likelihood of federal interference among the state’s hemp farmers.

Specifically, Vermont’s new industrial hemp rules set up a lab certification standard under a cannabis quality control program through the Agency of Agriculture. It also gives access to out-of-state seed supplies for Vermont farmers.

“[The] Farm bill gave states and universities the authority to do research on hemp, whether that was market research (or) genetic research. Just exploring the option of growing hemp as a viable crop.” — Cary Gigeure, Director of Public Health Agriculture Manager

Vermont hopes to encourage state businesses to incorporate more hemp products as a part of this shift, including beer, but officials are in some cases still uncertain how they will regulate and enforce the state’s new hemp laws.

Also on July 1, Vermont’s adult-use cannabis regulations will take effect. This policy shift will allow citizens to cultivate their own cannabis plants and gift up to an ounce of flower between adults; although the rules do not create a taxed-and-regulated marketplace, they are expected to establish a thriving gray market for cannabis products.

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