Montpelier, VT: Senators overwhelmingly backed legislation today to exempt seriously ill patients who use medical marijuana under a physician’s supervision from criminal prosecution. The Senate voted 22 to 7 in favor of the bill, according to the Senate Clerk’s office.
Senate Bill 76, sponsored by the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, would establish a state registry so that qualified patients could obtain an identification card allowing them to possess limited amounts of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Eight states have enacted similar laws, and medical marijuana legislation is pending in more than half a dozen states, including Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, and Rhode Island.
Similar legislation passed the Vermont House last year but stalled in the Senate.
In January, a Vermont legislative council determined that marijuana had medical value and had been misclassified by the federal government as a Schedule I prohibited substance.
For more information, please contact either Keith Stroup or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500. For detailed information on these bills, or to send letters in support of any of the above legislation, please visit: http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/