The Vermont Cannabis Control Board lives on after Governor Phil Scott allowed a provision lifting the panel’s sunset date to become law without his signature.
The October 2020 law that created board, which oversees Vermont’s legal marijuana market, required the board to disband on July 1, 2024. But Board Chair James Pepper said that provision made it difficult for the group to hire staff and find office space.
Pepper also said a report on the board’s makeup and effectiveness by State Auditor Doug Hoffer, originally due in November 2020, was granted an extension and will be delivered later this year.
“I think that report will illuminate for the governor and the legislature whether the board needs to continue, should continue in its current form, or whether the makeup should change,” Pepper said.
Scott, who appointed the three-member Cannabis Control Board in March 2021, has expressed reservations about its power. He has told lawmakers that the board’s statutory independence from the executive branch gives it authority to regulate a multi-million-dollar industry without any accountability.
In a letter to the legislature Wednesday, Scott said he wants to work with lawmakers and the board to clarify the group’s statutory authority.
“I believe my appointees have done a thorough job starting up and regulating the legal cannabis marketplace in Vermont,” he said. “While I have complete confidence in the current CCB, this lack of oversight creates the risk for future mismanagement, conflicts of interest and other harmful impacts.”
Pepper said the bill that now becomes law makes more than two dozen other minor tweaks to help navigate marijuana-related challenges that have emerged. It caps the amount of THC that a packaged cannabis product may contain at 100 milligrams and addresses deficiencies in Vermont’s medical marijuana program.
And it will give the regulatory board a new lease on life.
“No state that has come before us has gotten rid of their cannabis board,” Pepper said.
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