Thetford Vermont Bans Commercial Cannabis

While cannabis is legal in Vermont, the city of Thetford has voted to ban the commercial growing or sale of cannabis in its town. In an article published on VTDigger, Bill Huff, a Republican who is in favor of the ban is quoted as saying, “For me it’s a matter of the character of the town.” He said that cannabis shops are more suited to larger metropolitan areas than small towns and expressed concern about the traffic a dispensary might bring to their town.

Another board member, Nick Clark, voted against the measure and acknowledged, “…the war on drugs has been an obvious failure. It has caused the most harm to people of color as well as people of low income. It hasn’t worked, so I don’t know why we would do it again.” Clark suggested that the question should be put to voters, rather than decided by the board.

Other board members were quoted saying they were concerned that cannabis has been found to be “more addictive than we thought” is a “drug draw” and attracts “a whole lot of illegal activity.”