Republican Gov. Phil Scott has allowed medical cannabis reform legislation (HB 270) to become law absent his signature.
The new law, which takes immediate effect, increases the number of cannabis plants that qualified patients may grow at home from nine (of which no more than two could be mature) to 12 (of which six may be mature). Patients are permitted to possess the total harvest of their plants. It also increases the permissible amount of THC in a single serving medical cannabis product from 50 mgs to 100 mgs.
The law also expands medical cannabis access to patients with post-traumatic stress, and increases the total number of patients that a caregiver may serve at any one time.
Other provisions in the law create a new class of licensed growers, known as propagation cultivators, who will be permitted to grow and sell immature plants and clones. Another section of the law creates an advisory group tasked with making recommendations for directing funding toward communities that have been disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition.
Vermont lawmakers initially legalized medical cannabis in 2004. Legislators depenalized adult-use cannabis possession in 2018. Two years later, they passed separate legislation legalizing the retail production and sale of marijuana products. Governor Scott also allowed that measure to become law absent his signature.
Information on pending cannabis legislation is available from NORML’s Take Action Center.