If you want to know why Vermont is in such terrible shape on so many fronts, it is because the people we have elected to make important decisions for us are totally unmoored from any rational approach to problem-solving. They are devoid of any guiding principle, barring an intense desire to get their hands on our money and spend it as they see fit, which is usually not in a fit way. This is perfectly illustrated by the wildly divergent policies regarding marijuana, hard drugs, and nicotine currently under consideration in the State House.
I recently wrote about H.72 – An act relating to a harm-reduction criminal justice response to drug use, which the Vermont House passed 96-35 largely along party lines (a handful of Democrats joined all the Republicans in voting no), that would establish and fund state-sponsored drug ingestion sites. These “safe spaces” – for all intents and purposes loosely supervised, no-tell crack dens – would allow anyone of any age to come in and do any drug without fear of criminal charges or being reported to health or other authorities, official or parental.
Then there is S.300 – An act relating to funding support services for persons who use drugs and eliminating misdemeanor criminal penalties for possessing or dispensing a personal use drug supply, which “decriminalizes” (de facto legalizes) the possession AND DISTRIBUTION of small amounts of you name it. Fentanyl, meth, heroin, cocaine, acid, ecstasy, peyote…
According to this bill – which 12 of the 23 Democrat senators have signed onto as sponsors – someone can have or distribute an amount of pretty much any drug defined as a “benchmark personal use supply” or “the quantity of a drug commonly possessed for consumption by an individual for any therapeutic, medicinal, or recreational purpose,” with no age restrictions mentioned about who one can distribute these to.
Then there is S.72 – An act relating to lifting the potency limits on concentrated cannabis products, for which the title is self-explanatory.
So, at this point, one might conclude that these are just a bunch of libertines with a “do whatever you want” attitude about what we all do with and put into our bodies. But then comes along the other bill getting a lot of attention this week, S.18 – An act relating to banning flavored tobacco products and e-liquids.
Wait, what?
How can we help you do your opioids? Who are we to say how much THC belongs in your edibles or your Tropicana Cookies Hash Rosin Vape (a real thing; I looked it up)? But that pack of Kools? Oh, no. You can’t make that choice for yourself. That bubble gum-flavored nicotine vape? Hand it over, you evil dirtbag! Think of the children!
The justification for a flavored tobacco ban is, as it so often is that it’s “for the children.” It’s not enough that these products are already illegal to anyone under twenty-one. It’s not enough that nicotine vapes are a healthier alternative to smoking that helps many people to quit. Kids are getting their hands on them. Sure. Just like kids got their hands on regular cigarettes before flavors were available. Just like kids get their hands on pot, they’re too young to legally buy today, and just like they got their hands on pot that was totally illegal not too long ago.
But (S.18 features two pages of teeth-gnashing and garment-rending “findings”) those flavors are attracting kids and getting them hooked… say the same people who want to allow for even more potent marijuana-laced gummies because that’ll be just fine and not in any way a temptation for four-year-olds thinking they’ve discovered a cache of leftover Halloween candy.
In fact, S.18 specifically states that the law “does not include cannabis and cannabis products that are offered by a cannabis establishment.” So, our legislators’ real message to kids: If you want to inhale flavored vapor like Cherry Snacks Liquid Diamonds (a real thing, I looked it up), your only option is a cannabis product that will get you really high. It’s almost as if these lawmakers didn’t so much care about kids’ health but were really just working in league with the pot dealers, knee-capping their competition in order to boost their cronies’ bottom line. Hmmmm.
Is it any wonder we have a dangerously out-of-control drug culture flourishing in our state? In the world our elected leaders are creating for us and our children to live in, a drug dealer would be allowed to dispense single-serving amounts of the worst, most addictive, most destructive drugs to elementary school kids — in a government-sponsored safe space designed for such a purpose, no less — and face no criminal penalties, whereas a gas station/convenience store owner who sells a pack of Newport Lights to a thirty-five-year-old could face civil penalties of $200 for a first offense and $500 for subsequent offenses. How messed up is that?
On the bright side, though, last week, the Joint Fiscal Office let the members of the House Ways & Means Committee know that banning flavored tobacco products would result in an estimated annual revenue loss of between $7 million and $14 million. And so much for all that “save the children” rhetoric. It evaporated like a cloud of tobacco smoke in the wind. Screw the children. The people who profess to care so much would rather have the money.
