Governor Phil Scott signed H.511 into law on January 22,
2018 which legalizes marijuana to a limited degree. It decriminalizes
personal possession for individuals 21 or older, of no more than 1 ounce of
Marijuana or 5 grams or less of hashish and two mature marijuana and four
immature plants on private property. This limit also applies per dwelling
unit. Anything above these amounts is still a controlled substance and carries
penalties of increasing severity based on the amount found in the possession of
the individual. Additional restrictions of use include, no use in public
places or while driving. This legislation has not opened the path to
commercial sales for recreational use at this time, which is being reviewed by a
task force. Furthermore, nothing in the new bill requires an
employer to permit of accommodate the use, consumption, possession, transfer,
display, transportation, sale or growing of marijuana in the work place.
Employers have the right to include prohibition of marijuana use in their
policies and cannot be sued for discharging an employee who violates these
policies.
Federal law still classifies Marijuana as a Class I substance
under the Controlled Substances Act, and given Attorney General Session’s
recent remarks we are not expecting any changes to the Controlled Substances
Act at this point.
