Act 164, an act pertaining to retail cannabis sales was passed by both the House and Senate and allowed to become law without the Governor’s signature on October 7th, 2020. Under Act 164 towns will need to take a community wide vote to opt-in to allow retail cannabis sales in their town. It’s a big decision and there are lots of things to consider, especially the impacts that it may have on area youth. The state’s Cannabis Control Board (CCB) is set to begin meeting at the end of the month to start to decide many of the details that will impact the retail industry in VT. The CCB will be working through the year to establish the rules that guide this industry.
Yes, you read that right – If towns choose to vote in March they are voting to approve details that the CCB is yet to decide as they will be working through the spring and summer to iron out the details of implementation of Act 164. There is also a bill (S.25) in the state Senate to answer some of the many unanswered questions in Act 164, but also require all municipalities to place retail sales on the ballot by March 1, 2022.
Healthy Lamoille Valley will seek to share resources and updates as they become available. We will be keeping our website’s substance policy page updated regularly. You can also email jessica@healthylamoillevalley.