VT NORML Executive Director quoted in new article

Posted on January 31st, 2025 to Cannabis News by

Original article published on Brattleboro Reformer.

MONTPELIER – Over two dozen cannabis business owners, including Lieutenant Governor John Rodgers will gather today at the Vermont State House in order to testify, advocate, and host a public exhibition spotlighting businesses in the Vermont Cannabis industry.

Cannabis entrepreneurs and advocates will testify in the House Government Operations and Military Affairs Committee in the morning, and will host a press conference at 12:30pm in the Cedar Creek Room to outline requested cannabis reform priorities Lieutenant Governor John Rodgers.

The advocacy day comes as a group of Vermont cannabis business owners are actively suing the State of Vermont due to advertising restrictions, and the organizer, Eli Harrington – who is not currently a plaintiff in that suit – warns that without reforms to the laws and the CCB rule-making, the industry faces existential threat due to over-regulation.

“There are over 600 active cannabis licenses in the state of Vermont and every single one that I know is just trying to survive and keep the lights on; it’s totally unsustainable and 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”.

The event is organized by Eli Harrington, founder of the Vermont Cannabis Convention, Vermontijuana, and The Weedchuck cannabis awards in collaboration with Vermont NORML, the Cannabis Retailers of Vermont (CRAV), and the Office of Lieutenant Governor John Rodgers.

In addition to the advertising restrictions, Harrington and other additional cannabis industry members are specifically asking the state create a catering permit to allow legal consumers to purchase and consume cannabis in a designated space and time; to regulate high THC cannabis products; and to dramatically overhaul the state’s medical cannabis program.

Vermont NORML Chapter Director Timothy Egan teaches Cannabusiness and leads the internship program for the Vermont State University’s Cannabis Studies Certificate Program at Castleton. He is a former two-time legislator in New Hampshire’s House of Representatives, where he was Chair of the House Cannabis Caucus.

Egan says he has already seen VTSU interns start to find employment or start their own cannabis businesses. But he hears from former students and their employers about the challenges on the ground, particularly the lack of financing; inflexibility of advertising laws; and limited tourism marketing opportunities that are adversely impacting small businesses in Vermont.

Copyright © 2025 Vermont NORML |

Site by CannaPlanners