Vermont Senate Committee Approves Bill to Cut Marijuana Tax, Double Purchase Limits and Allow Events and Deliveries
- The Vermont Senate committee unanimously approved a bill to revise marijuana laws, including lowering the excise tax, expanding possession and purchase limits, and permitting cannabis events and deliveries.
- The excise tax would decrease from 14% to 10%, while retail transaction and personal possession limits would double, allowing adults 21+ to possess up to two ounces and cannabis concentrates up to 10 grams.
- The bill raises the THC cap per package from 100 mg to 200 mg and establishes limited event and delivery permits as temporary pilot programs expiring in 2028.
- It also restricts municipalities from completely banning cannabis businesses, with most provisions set to take effect on July 1, 2026, pending full Senate approval and enactment.
A Vermont Senate committee has unanimously approved a bill that would make changes to the state’s marijuana laws, including reducing the excise tax, expanding possession and purchase limits, and allowing cannabis events and deliveries. The Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs voted 5 to 0 to send Senate Bill 278 to the full Senate after adopting a revised version of the proposal. The bill was originally filed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers as a measure to expand marijuana sales and make Vermont’s regulated market more competitive.
Under the amended version, the bill would cut Vermont’s marijuana excise tax from 14% to 10%. It would also double the retail transaction and personal possession limits, allowing adults 21 and older to buy and possess up to two ounces of marijuana or its equivalent in a single sale. It would also increase the legal possession limit for cannabis concentrates from 5 grams to 10 grams.
Another notable change in the amended bill is a higher THC cap for cannabis products. The proposal would increase the limit for a single package from 100 milligrams to 200 milligrams of THC.
The measure would also create new event and delivery permits, though in a more limited way than the original version may have suggested (the committee amended the bill before giving it approval). The Cannabis Control Board would be allowed to issue up to 10 public event permits and 10 private event permits per year, with each permit valid for a single event lasting no more than 24 hours. The bill would also authorize up to 15 delivery permits annually for tier 1 cultivators and tier 1 manufacturers. Both the event and delivery permit sections would be repealed on July 1, 2028, making them temporary pilot-style programs unless lawmakers act again.
The amended bill would also prevent municipalities from using ordinances or bylaws to completely prohibit cannabis establishments, although it does not appear to include the earlier concept of requiring local votes in municipalities that have not yet considered whether to allow retailers.
If approved by the full Senate and later enacted into law, most of the bill’s provisions would take effect July 1, 2026.