Vermont's Foray into Legal Cannabis Keeps Street Dealers Fat and Happy

[Open on: A cavalcade of heroic knights returning from the wars. They are bloodied, but not bowed. The triumphant peal of trumpets welcomes them home.]

Dear Readers, in an orchestral-scale rendition of making a silk purse from a sow's ear, headlines from across Cannabis-Land crow, "Vermont made history" when the Green Mountain State's legislature approved staggeringly limited cannabis legalization a short time ago.

With some marvelously esoteric slight of hand the legislature (not the voters) approved "legalization" for the first time ever. Jeepers, that's news!

The American Cannabis Report is going to bang our heads against the wall.... er... swim against the current here with our own trumpet blast: Whoop de doo, Vermont, the irrationality of America's biggest maple syrup producer's accomplishment is what's remarkable here.

To the point that would make Captain Obvious slap his forehead in disbelief, we are dismayed to think about what it really means that possession of up to an ounce of cannabis is legalized, but there is no mechanism to provide legal cannabis to the holder of said ounce.

No cultivation? (nope.) No distribution? (nope.) No dispensaries? (nope.)

ACR: What-ho, Vermont, upon legalization July 1st, just exactly where are your legal weed buyers going to acquire their weed?

Vermont: Um... well.... they can't buy it, they have to grow their own.

ACR: So... when the law takes effect on July 1st, that's the date they can plant it?

Vermont: Ah yup. (That's Vermontish for "yes").

ACR: So your videos of the Grand Opening of the Vermont Cannabis Market is going to be of people with shovels?

Vermont: And flannel. It's going to be huge.

ACR: But what if they wanted to use cannabis on July 1st?

Vermont: They'll have to ask teenagers where to get it.

Voiceover: "This is the Vermont state legislature's second attempt to legalize marijuana for adult use. In 2017, the state legislature passed a similar bill that Scott vetoed, citing weak penalties for the sale of marijuana to minors and a need for more time to study other regulatory systems. The governor expressed a willingness to compromise and reconsider his position in early 2018 if his concerns were met." (Washington Post)

ACR: Thank goodness the Governor got what he wanted when he delayed the law. Hooray!

[And scene.]

Image source: icannhazcheeseburger.com