Senate Makes Late-Session Push for Marijuana Legalization

With the 2017 legislative session winding down Friday afternoon, Sen. Dick Sears made one last push to rescue stalled marijuana legalization legislation.

Sears (D-Bennington) introduced an amendment on the Vermont Senate floor mirroring a House-passed measure, H.170, that would legalize marijuana possession. He added to it a study commission to look at how Vermont might go about taxing and regulating the drug.

The amendment passed the full Senate in a 20-9 vote. The House Judiciary Committee is expected to consider it late Friday afternoon, meaning the full House could still vote on the measure before the end of the session.

"This is an effort to put something that might have an opportunity to pass," Sears told fellow senators Friday afternoon.

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