Vermont House says yes to recreational marijuana

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Adult marijuana use is one step closer to being legalized in the Green Mountain State

The Green Mountain State is moving at a fast pace to finally pass a bill that would legalize recreational cannabis sales market in the state. Earlier this week, the Vermont Senate approved the new bill consistently with a 23-5 result. After that, a vote from the Vermont House of Representatives was still pending for Wednesday, and the outcome went favorably. With strong support of 90-54, the House has just approved the bill. According to the expectations, the cannabis market has the potential to generate between $130 million and $160 million within the first five years of legal operations for the state.

Now, Vermont is just one step closer to making this an official deal, though the path doesn’t seem to be exactly clear. Governor Phil Scott will have the bill on his desk soon for a final signature, but a couple of things need to be tweaked before that happens. The House still needs to run a final full vote and a few other differences between senators and representatives regarding taxes and other matters, need to be worked out. When and if this bill is approved, Vermont will become the third state in the Northeast region, after Massachusetts and Maine, to have full legislation for a cannabis recreational program. This situation puts extra pressure on the other states of the area to legalize adult sales.

This bill proposes that the state licenses these recreational retail stores by July 2021. But there is still one more doubt. Scott is a Republican and, in some way, unpredictable. He once referred to the matter by saying that he would say yes to such a measure only if public safety concerns are well-addressed.