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Recreational marijuana is now legal in Vermont

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has signed a bill allowing the possession and use of marijuana for adults over the age of 21.

  • Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has signed a bill legalizing the possession and consumption of marijuana for adults over the age of 21.
  • The move makes Vermont the first state to legalize marijuana through a state legislature, rather than a ballot initiative.
  • The bill, however, doesn't set up a commercial market for the sale of marijuana.
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Vermont's Republican governor, Phil Scott, signed a bill legalizing marijuana in the state on Monday.

The move makes Vermont the first state to legalize marijuana through the legislature, rather than a ballot initiative. The previous eight states to legalize marijuana, along with Washington D.C., have all done so through a statewide vote.

The Vermont Senate approved the measure, which allows the possession and recreational consumption of marijuana for adults over the age of 21, earlier this month. The move came as a sharp rebuke to Attorney General Jeff Sessions' announcement that the Justice Department will go back to enforcing federal drug laws in states that have legalized marijuana.

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Vermont's new bill is limited in scope — it doesn't establish a market for production and sale of the drug.

Gov. Scott signed the bill with "mixed emotions," he said in a statement, and he vetoed a previous version in May.

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The new policy will go into effect on July 1. Some lawmakers may press to establish a market for the sale of marijuana after that.

Sessions is a longtime opponent of legalized marijuana. The Attorney General rescinded the Obama-era directive known as the Cole Memo, which instructed the Justice Department to place a low priority on

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Activists in favor of marijuana legalization are cheering the state's move.

The House of Representatives in New Hampshire – Vermont's neighbor — passed a similar marijuana legalization bill earlier this month.

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