Vermont Attorney General Predicts Legislature Will Legalize Marijuana 2016

https://blog.mpp.org/tax-and-regulate/vermont-attorney-general-predicts-marijuana-made-legal-in-2016/

[Attorney General Bill] Sorrell said in an interview Tuesday that while he doesn’t have any “insider information,” it’s his belief that the General Assembly will pass, and the governor will sign, legislation to legalize and regulate the recreational use and sale of marijuana during the upcoming legislative session.

While no “prominent Vermonter” has told him that marijuana will be legalized, his reading of the tea leaves (“or the marijuana leaves,” he quipped) is that this is the year for legalization.

“Let me put it this way, I will be surprised if marijuana is not legalized in this next legislative session,” he said.

The evidence as he sees it? There is a clear path through the Legislature now that House Speaker Shap Smith says he favors legalization of marijuana. In previous legislative sessions, Smith has taken a “wait-and-see” approach, and has not allowed legislation to reach the floor of the House.

There are enough votes for legislation to pass in the Senate, he says, and outgoing Gov. Peter Shumlin has said he would sign a bill.

As momentum builds toward legalization, the Marijuana Policy Project has stepped up its lobbying efforts in Vermont. Its New England political director is moving to Montpelier to lobby full time.