Legal Market for Cannabis
Posted Fall 2020
Prohibition has never worked and never will. I support the creation of a legal market for Cannabis. Current Vermont law removes civil and criminal penalties for the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Unfortunately, the state continues to experience the negative consequences associated with a thriving illicit market for Cannabis. Home cultivation provides some Vermonters with a legal alternative, but most Cannabis consumers are either unable or uninterested in growing their own plants. Legalization should include thoughtful regulations in order to protect consumers, produce tax revenue, restrict advertising, and reduce the illicit market. In the interest of public health, adults should be able to buy Cannabis that has been independently tested by a licensed laboratory so they can know exactly what they are consuming. The market must have strong controls to prohibit selling and marketing to children.
I want to avoid having marijuana marketed by large corporations with fancy advertising. The typical business model calls for selling ever more product to customers and attracting more users. We need to invent a system that works for Vermont and its small entrepreneurs.