Leaders of Vermont’s cannabis industry in Montpelier
Posted on January 31st, 2025 to Cannabis News by VT NORML Staff
Original article written by Brian Wallstin for MyChamplainValley.com.
More than two dozen cannabis-business owners will meet at the State House on Wednesday to push legislators for changes to how Vermont regulates their industry.
Business leaders, including Lt. Gov. John Rodgers, are expected to testify in the House Government Operations and Military Affairs Committee this morning. They have planned a 12:30 press conferences to unveil their wish-list of proposed reforms.
Eli Harrington, founder of the Vermont Cannabis Convention, said that over-regulation poses an “existential threat” to the state’s more than 600 cannabis-license holders.
“Every single one that I know is just trying to survive and keep the lights on,” said Harrington, who owns a cannabis-cultivation business in Irasburg. “If regulations don’t change dramatically and favorably in 2025, we’ll be looking at a mass extinction event with literally hundreds of small businesses failing.”
One issue sure to generate discussion in Wednesday’s hearing is the state’s restrictions on advertising of cannabis products.
In December FLŌRA Cannabis, a Middlebury-based cannabis-retailer, sued the state Cannabis Control Board claiming regulators are “layering restriction upon restriction” on the ability of cannabis retailers to market their products like any other, including alcohol, tobacco and, most recently, sports gambling.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction that would prevent the state from enforcing the “specifically identified, unconstitutional aspects” of the law.
Industry leaders also say they will challenge the Board’s rule-making authority when it comes to ‘catering’ permits, which would allow consumers to buy and consume cannabis in a designated space and time. They are also asking the state to “dramatically overhaul” Vermont’s medical marijuana program.
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