Pubdate: Thu, 06 Jun 2013
Source: Burlington Free Press (VT)
Copyright: 2013 Burlington Free Press
Contact:  http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/632
Author: Terri Hallenbeck

AS OF JULY 1, POT POSSESSION DRAWS A TICKET, NOT A CHARGE IN VERMONT

Gov. Shumlin signed into law Thursday a bill that decriminalizes 
possession of an ounce or less of marijuana

ESSEX - As of July 1, those caught by police in Vermont with an ounce 
or less of marijuana will be subject to a ticket, not a criminal charge.

Gov. Peter Shumlin signed the bill into law Thursday while speaking 
to a group of public defenders at their annual conference at the Inn 
at Essex. The law makes Vermont the 17th state to either 
decriminalize or legalize marijuana.

Shumlin called it a more "common sense" way to deal with possession 
of marijuana. "When Vermonters do abuse marijuana, let's make sure 
it's a traffic ticket kind of fine and it doesn't affect the rest of 
their lives," he said.

Sen. Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, a lawyer who pushed for the bill 
partly based on his own experience, warned the audience of public 
defenders that the drug is still illegal. "We have not legalized 
marijuana. Please don't tell your clients that," Benning said.

Benning said he was arrested as a teen in 1975 when a house where his 
rock band was practicing was raided. He said he wasn't smoking 
marijuana, but had to go through a protracted expungement process to 
clear his record.

Police and some prosecutors argued during the legislative debate that 
decriminalization will send the wrong message that marijuana use is OK.

Bobby Sand, a former Windsor County state's attorney who now works 
for the state Public Safety Department, argued that the message it 
sends is: "we have the capacity to change. That's a very powerful message."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom