MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The Vermont House has voted overwhelmingly against a Senate-passed plan to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana.
The 121-to-28 vote appears to kill any chance this year that Vermont will become the first state to legislate legalization. Four other states and the District of Columbia have legalized by referendum.
Some House members said they support legalization, but opposed the Senate language. They argued that the Senate-proposed system of licensing and taxing growers and retailers — and banning homegrown — was too commercial an approach for Vermont.
The House continued to work on a stripped down proposal to step up anti-substance-abuse education, create a commission to study legalization, and to expand the list of marijuana offenses that are subject to civil, rather than criminal, penalties.
