Monday, July 3, 2017
Mark Logan, who owned Green Mountain Family Medicine, faces 35 counts of prescription fraud and six counts of Medicaid fraud, Vermont State Police said. Logan, 66, is scheduled to appear in Rutland Superior Court on July 10.
Logan was the target of an investigation launched in January 2016 involving state police, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Vermont Board of Medical Practice.
State police said the allegations date to 2010 or earlier. Logan allegedly manipulated employee medical records and patient profiles to order prescription drugs for his or a family member's use.
Tags: Department of Health , Mark Logan , opiates , Opioid Crisis , Rutland , Vermont State Police , Image , Web Only
Friday, May 26, 2017
Key legislators and marijuana legalization advocates met Thursday and Friday with Scott's staff to discuss changes he asked for when he vetoed the measure on Wednesday.
As now written, the bill would legalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and older. It would also allow adults to grow at home two mature plants. The legislation, which would go into effect July 2018, would not legalize marijuana sales.
In announcing the veto, Scott said he's seeking a few revisions, like beefing up penalties for using marijuana around children and extending the deadline for a commission to study full pot legalization in Vermont. Those changes could be made in time for the legislature's planned June 21 veto session.
Tags: Cannabeat , Dick Sears , marijuana legalization , Marijuana Policy Project , Phil Scott , Vermont legislature , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Gov. Phil Scott on Wednesday vetoed pending legislation that would legalize marijuana in Vermont. But he promised to work with lawmakers to fashion a new bill that might win his support next month.
“I am not philosophically opposed to ending the prohibition on marijuana,” Scott said at a highly anticipated press conference in his Montpelier office. “However … we must get this right.”
The legislation would have allowed adults over age 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and grow as many as two mature plants per household, starting in July 2018. It also would have created a commission to report back by November with a plan to tax and regulate marijuana sales, as other states have done.
The Republican governor said Wednesday that he would provide legislators with “explicit” recommendations to craft a bill that might meet his approval. He suggested that lawmakers tackle them when they reconvene July 21 for an expected two-day veto session.
Tags: Cannabeat , legalization , marijuana , Phil Scott , Vermont , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
Monday, May 22, 2017
Michael Foreste, who was profiled by Seven Days in April for his participation in an unusual prison treatment program, told U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions III that his time spent in prison and the counseling he has received in recent months has changed his outlook.
"I now know what these pills do to the community," Foreste said. "I never wish to cause this kind of harm again."
Tags: Christina Nolan , drug dealing , Mark Kaplan , Michael Foreste , opiates , Opioid Crisis , William Sessions , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
The Vermont House on Wednesday voted to legalize marijuana possession, a miraculous revival for legislation that appeared just days before to be going nowhere fast.
“Vermont lawmakers made history today,” declared Matt Simon, New England political director for the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project. “There is no rational reason to continue punishing adults for consuming a substance that is safer than alcohol.”
The 79-66 vote means the bill, already approved by the Senate, goes next to Gov. Phil Scott. Asked Wednesday what he would do — sign, veto or let the legislation become law without his signature — the governor declined to say.
“I don’t believe this is a priority for Vermont,” the first-term Republican governor said, reiterating his concern that there is no roadside test to detect drivers impaired by marijuana. The bill, S.22, would legalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana and home growing of up to two mature and four immature plants for adults age 21 and over. It would go into effect July 2018.
Tags: Cannabeat , Don Turner , Laura Sibilia , marijuana legalization , Maxine Grad , Patrick Brennan , Phil Scott , Tom Burditt , Vermont House , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
S.22 also calls for a commission to study how the state might eventually tax and regulate the drug. House Judiciary Committee Chair Maxine Grad (D-Moretown) said she'll ask her committee Wednesday to recommend the full House pass the bill.
"I will put this on the table and see what happens," Grad said Tuesday. "I'm pretty confident I have the votes [in committee] to concur. Then beyond that, I don't know."
Tags: Cannabeat , marijuana legalization , Maxine Grad , Vermont House , Vermont marijuana legalization , Image , Web Only
Friday, May 5, 2017
Sears 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.
Tags: Cannabeat , Dick Sears , marijuana legallization , Maxine Grad , Vermont legislature , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Lawmakers supported the legislation by a 74-68 tally in a vote taken around 11:30 p.m. — some four hours after the issue was first presented on the floor.
"All this leads to savings in our corrections and judicial systems," said Rep. Tom Burditt (R-West Rutland). "Let's end prohibition."
The action comes after months of delays that make it likely too late to pass in the full legislature this year, as lawmakers are expected to adjourn for the session later this week. But supporters see any action as progress toward their goal.
Tags: Cannabeat , Chip Conquest , Cynthia Browning , Jean O'Sullivan , marijuana legalization , Paul Poirier , Peter Fagan , Tom Burditt , Vermont House , Image , Web Only
Friday, April 21, 2017
“We know that prohibition has not worked,” Sen. Jeanette White (D-Windham) said. “Let’s make it safer, less accessible to kids.”
The vote came in response to an amendment White made to another criminal justice bill. The Senate had been awaiting action from the House on legalization, but that chamber had yet to vote as the legislative session nears its early-May adjournment.
Sen. Peg Flory (R-Rutland) briefly succeeded in derailing White’s amendment when she questioned whether it was sufficiently related — or germane — to the underlying bill. It wasn’t, ruled Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman.
But Senate rules allow the chamber to make a non-germane amendment germane, if they can muster a three-fourths’ majority. They did, by a 23-7 vote — exactly enough to meet the threshold.*
Tags: Cannabeat , David Zuckerman , Dick Mazza , Dick McCormack , Dick Sears , Jeanette White , marijuana legalization , Peg Flory , Phil Scott , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Sen. Jeanette White (D-Windham) plans to introduce a revised version of a legalization bill that the Senate passed last year to allow for possession and sale of taxed marijuana starting in 2019. While last year's bill easily passed the Senate, it failed in the House.
White's effort would be in an amendment to another Senate bill — H.167 — expected to be up for action on the Senate floor Friday. Her revision would add legalization of homegrown marijuana.
Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington) said he plans to vote for White's amendment. But anticipating that it's unlikely to pass the House, he has another, less ambitious plan. He'll offer up legislation to establish a study committee that would figure out how Vermont could tax and regulate marijuana. He plans to present it as an amendment to another bill on the Senate floor next week.
Tags: Cannabeat , Dick Sears , Jeanette White , marijuana legalization , Maxine Grad , Image , Web Only