Friday, March 1, 2019
The bill would impose a 16 percent tax on the sale of cannabis products, with potential for an additional 2 percent local option tax. A state Cannabis Control Board would be responsible for regulation and licensing of all stages of the supply chain for legal weed. The bill calls on the board to prioritize Vermont businesses owned by women and minorities as it considers license applications.
Licenses for growers would be issued by December 2020, and separate licenses for processing facilities, wholesalers and retailers would be phased in over the following months.
Tags: Cannabeat , cannabis , marijuana , pot , weed , retail , tax and regulate , Cannabis Control Board , Sam Young , Phil Scott , Statehouse , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
David L. Bissonnette, 38, of Burlington, died on November 22, 2016 of bacterial endocarditis, a heart infection often associated with intravenous drug use, a few hours after an ambulance rushed him from Northwest State Correctional Facility in Swanton to a hospital.
Bissonnette had been arraigned on November 7, 2016, on charges that he failed to appear in court, violated conditions of release and stole a laptop. He could not afford to post $4,000 bail, the suit says, so he was sent to prison. During intake, he revealed to staff that he had been taking buprenorphine, an opioid-addiction medication.
"[O]fficials who assigned Bissonnette to segregation expected Bissonnette to be going through withdrawal (as they would not let him continue to use buprenorphine)," the suit contends.
Tags: opioid addiction , corrections , Vermont , Image , Web Only
Friday, February 15, 2019
The legislation, which will move to the Senate Finance and Appropriations committees before consideration by the full Senate, would establish a statewide Cannabis Control Board tasked with setting up regulations and a permitting system for Vermont.
Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick Sears (D-Bennington) said that the legislation may get a full Senate vote before Town Meeting Day, which falls on March 5.
Tags: Cannabeat , marijuana , tax and regulate , cannabis , Dick Sears , S.54 , Vermont , Senate , bill , Statehouse , Image , Web Only
Thursday, February 14, 2019
The recently released Vermont Department of Health data offers "measurable evidence we are in fact advancing as a community," Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said. About two dozen health officials, law enforcement officers, politicians and nonprofit leaders touted the progress at a press conference in the Queen City.
At the same time, the total number of Vermonters who died of an opioid overdose continued to increase. The state tallied 110 such deaths in 2018, up from 108 the previous year. The total sets a new record for opioid-related deaths in Vermont.
Tags: Brandon del Pozo , Miro Weinberger , Mark Levine , Sarah George , Bob Bick , opioids , Image , Web Only
The proposed legislation would force insurance companies to automatically cover drugs used in medication-assisted treatment (MAT) without requiring doctors to get prior authorization from the insurer.
Advocates and physicians supporting the legislation say patients can struggle while awaiting that approval.
“It can be two days before that would be authorized,” said Dr. Kathleen McGraw, the chief medical officer at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. “When somebody’s coming in and saying, ‘I’m ready for help,’ in two days they will be going through dramatic withdrawals.”
Tags: opiates , methadone , buprenorphine , naltrexone , heroin , recovery , health insurance , medication assisted treatment , medication assisted therapy , narcotics , Image , Web Only
Friday, February 8, 2019
Young’s legislation to establish a regulated retail cannabis market is similar in many ways to a Senate bill, S.54, introduced last month. But the House measure, H.196, would allow existing medical marijuana dispensaries to pay a $75,000 fee so that they could sell to the general public at the beginning of next year. The state would then continue to iron out details about the regulatory structure of the recreational market before other dispensaries could open in April 2021.
In addition to giving Vermont’s would-be cannabis customers an earlier start, Young said the licensing fees would “get some funds in order to create the board and the regulated market.”
Tags: Cannabeat , H.196 , Sam Young , cannabis , marijuana , retail , regulate , tax and regulate , Tom Stevens , Statehouse , Image , Web Only
Thursday, January 31, 2019
“We have to have a regulated market,” T.J. Donovan told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday morning.
The state's top law enforcement officer said his “position has evolved” since last year, when he supported a measure that legalized adult possession and home cultivation of weed but didn’t allow sales.
That policy hasn’t worked, according to Donovan, who now supports S.54, a bill that would allow legal pot sales.
“We’ve seen that we can’t tell Vermonters that they can possess marijuana and be silent about how to obtain it because capitalism exists and is only going to grow in this area,” Donovan said.
Tags: Cannabeat , cannabis , marijuana , T.J. Donovan , tax and regulate , S.54 , attorney general , Statehouse , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Authorities seized a loaded handgun, five ounces of marijuana and more than $11,000 in cash during a Tuesday raid on a Church Street business, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan alleged in a two-count criminal complaint that Good Times Gallery owner Derek Spilman possessed a firearm while distributing marijuana. In court papers, authorities said that Spilman had sold pot to minors, including a young woman who allegedly became ill after consuming a bag of edible gummies.
Spilman was released on conditions Wednesday after an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Burlington. Speaking to the press after the hearing, Nolan said the presence of firearms in the store was “a very significant factor” in the feds’ decision to take action, as was the store’s location on a prominent pedestrian thoroughfare.
Nolan noted that marijuana remains a controlled substance under federal law. And though she acknowledged that Vermont legalized the personal possession and cultivation of pot last summer, she said, “This conduct is not even close to legal under state law.”
Tags: Cannabeat , Good Times Gallery , Derek Spilman , marijuana , cannabis , Image , Web Only
During a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting Wednesday morning, Levine said that data show an alarming increase in youth marijuana use in recent years and urged lawmakers to fund programs that would nip the problem in the bud.
The commissioner told lawmakers there is a “growing consensus” among scientists that weed is harmful to developing brains. He said youth use of the drug has been shown to cause “both acute and chronic forms of psychosis.”
“The relationship is quite firm now, and the rates are alarming,” he said.
Levine issued his warning as the committee considers S.54, a bill that would establish a state regulatory authority to oversee the cultivation, processing and retail sale of cannabis to adults. Under a timeline laid out in the measure, the first retail licenses would be issued by April 1, 2021.
Fifteen of the Senate's 30 members are listed as sponsors of the bill.
Tags: Cannabeat , Mark Levine , Dick Sears , Vermont Department of Health , S.54 , Dave Silberman , Laura Subin , marijuana , cannabis , tax and regulate , Tom Anderson , weed , pot , Vermont , legalization , Statehouse , Image , Web Only
Thursday, January 24, 2019
MassLive reported Thursday that the Massachusetts state medical examiner listed "consequences of septicemia in the setting of tricuspid valve endocarditis" as Linsenmeir's immediate cause of death.
Septicemia is a blood infection. Endocarditis is an infection of the inner lining of the heart. People who inject drugs are at an especially high risk for endocarditis because bacteria from skin or syringes can enter their veins and reach the heart.
Tags: opiate crisis , madelyn linsenmeir , aclu , springfield police , endocarditis , addiction , Image , Web Only