Town bans sale of marijuana

Andrew McKeever

GNAT-TV News Project

MANCHESTER — The town’s Select Board has made it a violation of local ordinances to sell or distribute marijuana in Manchester.

State laws on distribution of the substance currently call for a fine of $200 for selling or distributing one ounce or less for a first offense. Considered a civil violation under state law, the fines go up to $300 for a second offense and up to $500 for subsequent offenses. The penalties ramp up sharply for selling amounts greater than an ounce — selling two ounces to a pound is considered a felony and punishable by up to three years in prison plus a $10,000 fine.

The select board took the action during its regular meeting Tuesday, Nov. 15, and was prompted by the recent push to legalize marijuana at the state level, and after consultations with youth and substance abuse experts, as well as Manchester’s police department, Town Manager John O’Keefe stated in an email.

The new ordinance is consistent with current state law, he added.

“Needless to say, local officials have traditionally felt that they have the best read on the needs and wants of the local community, and always push for more local control,” O’Keefe stated in his email to GNAT-TV, in response to a request for a comment. “If the state legislature pursues legalization of marijuana, we sincerely hope that the state will provide a local opt out option similar to the previous legislation that failed last year. If that happens, then the Town’s ordinance which bans the sale of marijuana would be effective.”

The state legislature held extensive hearings and discussions earlier this year around a proposed statute that would have regulated and legalized the sale of marijuana similar to what is in place in states like Colorado and Washington. However, that bill failed in the state House of Representatives last May after winning passage in the state Senate. Governor-elect Phil Scott has indicated he is in no rush to revisit the issue, and appears to have the votes in the statehouse to sustain a probable veto, should a marijuana legalization bill reach his desk.

The action by the Manchester select board appears to be one of the few of its kind around the state. A Google search turned up only one other town, Ludlow, which had a comparable explicit ban on the sale of marijuana in its town ordinances. In Ludlow’s case, their ordinance is directed at prohibiting sales of medical marijuana dispensaries. Their ordinance also prohibits drug paraphernalia shops as well.

Manchester’s select board also made it a first degree civil violation for any business, after the adoption of the ordinance on Nov. 15, to sell drug paraphernalia within 1,000 feet of an existing school or daycare center.

Municipalities do have the authority under Vermont law to regulate whether or not they want to have a dispensary within the community, and they can also pass ordinances that govern the time place and manner of operation, said Maura Carroll, the executive director of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, a non-profit support and advocacy organization for Vermont’s municipal officials.

The select board’s action pleased Maryann Morris, the head of The Collaborative, a local organization which works to promote behavior among area youth which steers them away from use of tobacco and other illicit substances considered potentially hazardous. Representatives of the organization urged the select board to include the restrictions on drug paraphernalia at last week’s meeting, Morris said in an email to GNAT.

“We are happy to see that the select board made a choice to be a partner in prevention and limit youth exposure to marijuana paraphernalia,” Morris stated. “It shows that the Manchester select board is keeping health and wellness a priority through strong policy. This is a milestone for Manchester and Bennington County. “