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1 S.300
2 Introduced by Senators Vyhovsky, Bray, Clarkson, Gulick, Hashim,
3 MacDonald, McCormack, Perchlik, Ram Hinsdale, Watson,
4 White and Wrenner
5 Referred to Committee on
6 Date:
7 Subject: Regulated drugs; possessing and dispensing a benchmark personal use
8 supply; special funds for substance use, harm reduction and support
9 Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to establish a
10 Community Care, Health, and Safety Fund to provide grants for the
11 establishment and operation of community-based services intended to reduce
12 the harms of drug use and meet the needs of persons suffering from substance
13 use disorder; designates 40 percent of the cannabis excise tax and a portion of
14 the monies from the Opioid Abatement Special Fund for the Community Care,
15 Health, and Safety Fund; eliminates criminal penalties for possessing and
16 dispensing a personal use supply of drugs; requires that a person found to be
17 possessing or dispensing an amount of a personal-use quantity of a regulated
18 drug be provided information and access to available services and authorizes
19 the provision of monetary-equivalent incentives for participation in a needs
20 assessment; and establishes the Drug Use Health and Safety Advisory Board
21 for the purpose of determining the benchmark personal use supply for VT LEG #372747 v.2
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1 regulated drugs with a goal of preventing and reducing the criminalization of
2 personal drug use and to distribute grants from the Community Care, Health,
3 and Safety Fund.
4 An act relating to funding support services for persons who use drugs and
5 eliminating misdemeanor criminal penalties for possessing or dispensing a
6 personal use drug supply
7 It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
8 Sec. 1. FINDINGS
9 The General Assembly finds that:
10 (1) Fatal and nonfatal drug overdoses in Vermont are an urgent public
11 health crisis, with rates of overdose deaths rising sharply in recent years. Drug
12 overdose reportedly killed 264 Vermonters in 2022 and drug toxicity deaths
13 have increased by over 500 percent since 2010.
14 (2) Nonfatal opioid overdose emergency department visits have also
15 been increasing. From 2018 to 2021, 1,631 individuals visited an emergency
16 department for an opioid overdose.
17 (3) Research has consistently shown that public health strategies are
18 effective at reducing overdose deaths, reducing the transmission of infectious
19 diseases, and improving health outcomes for individuals who use drugs.
20 (4) Investments in criminal justice approaches have proven ineffective
21 in reducing overdose. Despite more than 10,000 arrests for drug possession VT LEG #372747 v.2
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1 offenses since 2010, fatal drug overdoses have continued to rise during this
2 period.
3 (5) The medical and public understanding that addiction is a chronic
4 brain disease has increased in recent years, yet Vermont’s laws have continued
5 to reflect a punitive criminal justice model that has been ineffective in
6 improving public health and has itself caused extensive harm.
7 (6) The criminalization of drug use has profoundly negative impacts on
8 individuals, families, and communities. The stigma of a criminal arrest or
9 conviction often results in detrimental physical, psychological, and economic
10 impacts on the lives of those arrested. Involvement in the criminal legal
11 system can interfere with employment, housing, educational opportunities, and
12 professional licensing and lead to burdensome debt from fines. According to a
13 2020 report by the Brennan Center for Justice, individuals convicted of a
14 misdemeanor have their annual earnings reduced by an average of 16 percent.
15 (7) Studies have also repeatedly found that periods of incarceration
16 substantially increase the risk of fatal overdose. Within the first two weeks of
17 release from incarceration, an individual is substantially more likely to die
18 from a fatal overdose than a person who was not detained.
19 (8) Criminalizing drug use and possession reduces the amount of
20 resources available for harm reduction and treatment services, deters people
21 from accessing available services due to fear of arrest, and compounds the VT LEG #372747 v.2
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1 social barriers and traumas often contributing to substance use disorder.
2 Arrests and prosecutions can further traumatize individuals who were
3 previously experiencing pain or suffering from prior traumatic events or
4 circumstances.
5 (9) Enforcement of the drug laws in Vermont, as well as nationally, falls
6 disproportionately on persons of color despite similar rates in usage and sale of
7 drugs. Prior to Vermont’s legalization of cannabis in 2018, Black persons
8 were six times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than White
9 persons. A 2021 study conducted by the Council for State Governments found
10 that between 2014 and 2019, Black persons in Vermont were 14 times more
11 likely than White persons to be defendants in a felony drug case and
12 18 percentage points more likely than White persons to be sentenced to
13 incarceration for a felony drug offense.
14 (10) A health-based approach to drugs, prioritizing the expansion of
15 harm reduction services and on-demand access to evidence-based treatment,
16 rather than the traditional criminal justice model, has proven to be more
17 effective at preventing opioid deaths and drug-related injuries, reducing the
18 spread of HIV and Hepatitis C and improving health outcomes for persons who
19 use drugs. In particular, harm reduction interventions such as drug-checking
20 services and overdose prevention centers have been implemented throughout
21 the world with demonstrated success in saving lives, providing greater stability VT LEG #372747 v.2
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1 and facilitating access to health care and services for participants, while also
2 significantly benefitting surrounding communities.
3 (11) Harm reduction services, including overdose prevention centers and
4 drug-checking programs, have been shown to be highly effective in reducing
5 the risk that a drug overdose will become fatal and in improving health
6 outcomes for participants.
7 (12) Throughout the last decade in Vermont, the approach to drugs has
8 gradually shifted toward policies focused on prevention, treatment, and harm
9 reduction rather than punishment. In recent years, the General Assembly has
10 enacted legislation decriminalizing possession of the opiate disorder treatment
11 drug buprenorphine, granting immunity from prosecution for possession of
12 drugs for a person who seeks assistance for themselves or another who is
13 experiencing an overdose, supporting the establishment of drug-checking
14 services, providing widespread access to naloxone to treat opiate overdoses in
15 an emergency, and supporting other harm reduction interventions such as
16 syringe service programs.
17 (13) Eliminating criminal penalties for possessing personal use amounts
18 of regulated drugs would continue this progress in shifting toward a fully
19 public-health approach to drug use and addiction by helping eliminate barriers
20 for those who need supportive services. The elimination of criminal penalties
21 removes the fear of arrest, which drives many people to hide their substance VT LEG #372747 v.2
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1 use, consume drugs alone in dangerous circumstances, and avoid seeking help
2 from health care systems and harm reduction providers. Such a strategic shift
3 will also allow Vermont to redirect money and resources from prosecution and
4 incarceration toward prevention, harm reduction strategies, and addiction
5 services, affording better outcomes for all Vermonters.
6 Sec. 2. 18 V.S.A. § 4201 is amended to read:
7 § 4201. DEFINITIONS
8 As used in this chapter:
9 ***
10 (6) “Depressant or stimulant drug” means:
11 (A) any drug that contains any quantity of barbituric acid or any of
12 the salts of barbituric acid, or any derivative of barbituric acid, that is
13 designated as habit-forming because of its effect on the central nervous system
14 in the rules adopted by the Board of Health under section 4202 of this title;
15 (B) any drug, other than methamphetamine, that contains any
16 quantity of amphetamine or any of its optical isomers, any salt or of
17 amphetamine, or any salt of an optical isomer of amphetamine, that the Board
18 of Health so designates by such rule as habit-forming because of its effect on
19 the central nervous system;
20 (C) gamma hydroxybutyric acid, including its salts, isomers, or salts
21 of isomers;
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1 (D) gamma butyrolactone, including 4-butyrolactone and gamma
2 hydroxybutyric acid lactone, including its salts, isomers, or salts of isomers,
3 when packaged, marketed, manufactured, or intended for human consumption;
4 (E) ketamine, including its salts, isomers, or salts of isomers;
5 (F) flunitrazepam, including its salts, isomers, or salts of isomers; and
6 (G) any drug, other than methamphetamine, that contains any
7 quantity of a substance that the Board of Health so designates by such rule as
8 having a serious potential for abuse arising out of its effect on the central
9 nervous system.
10 ***
11 (10) “Hallucinogenic drugs” means stramonium, mescaline or peyote,
12 lysergic acid diethylamide, and psilocybin, and all synthetic equivalents of
13 chemicals contained in resinous extractives of Cannabis sativa, or any salts or
14 derivatives or compounds of any preparations or mixtures thereof, and any
15 other substance that is designated as habit-forming or as having a serious
16 potential for abuse arising out of its effect on the central nervous system or its
17 hallucinogenic effect in the rules adopted by the Board of Health under
18 section 4202 of this title.
19 ***
20 (16) “Narcotic,” “narcotics,” or “narcotic drugs” means opium, coca
21 leaves, pethidine (isonipecaine, meperidine), and opiates or their compound,
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1 manufacture, salt, alkaloid, or derivative, and every substance neither
2 chemically nor physically distinguishable from them, and preparations
3 containing such drugs or their derivatives, by whatever trade name identified
4 and whether produced directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of
5 vegetable origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis or by a
6 combination of extraction and chemical synthesis, as the same are so
7 designated in the rules adopted by the Board of Health under section 4202 of
8 this title.
9 ***
10 (29) “Regulated drug” means:
11 (A) a narcotic drug;
12 (B) a depressant or stimulant drug, other than methamphetamine;
13 (C) a hallucinogenic drug;
14 (D) Ecstasy;
15 (E) cannabis; or
16 (F) methamphetamine.
17 ***
18 (46) “Benchmark unlawful dosage” means the maximum recommended
19 therapeutic dose, or maximum daily dose, as determined by the Department by
20 rule.
21 ***
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1 (48) “Benchmark personal use supply” means the quantity of a drug
2 commonly possessed for consumption by an individual for any therapeutic,
3 medicinal, or recreational purpose.
4 Sec. 3. 18 V.S.A. § 4202 is amended to read:
5 § 4202. POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
6 (a) The Department of Health is authorized and empowered to adopt such
7 rules that in its judgment may be necessary or proper to supplement the
8 provisions of this chapter to effectuate the purposes and intent thereof or to
9 clarify its provisions so as to provide the procedure or details to secure
10 effective and proper enforcement of its provisions.
11 (b) These rules and determinations, when adopted, shall, until modified or
12 rescinded, have the force and effect of law.
13 ***
14 (e) The Department shall adopt rules reflecting the benchmarks
15 recommended by the Drug Use Standards Advisory Board in accordance with
16 section 4202a of this title.
17 Sec. 4. 18 V.S.A. § 4202a is added to read:
18 § 4202a. DRUG USE HEALTH AND SAFETY ADVISORY BOARD
19 (a) There is hereby created the Drug Use Health and Safety Advisory
20 Board composed of experts in the fields of general and behavioral health care,
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1 substance use disorder treatment, harm reduction service provider, and drug
2 user communities.
3 (b) The primary objectives of the Drug Use Health and Safety Advisory
4 Board shall be:
5 (1) to determine, for each regulated and unregulated drug, the
6 benchmark personal use supply. The benchmarks determined pursuant to this
7 subsection shall be determined with a goal of preventing and reducing the
8 criminalization of personal drug use; and
9 (2) to distribute and provide oversight of grant funding from the
10 Community Care, Health, and Safety Fund.
11 (c) The Drug Use Health and Safety Advisory Board shall be composed of
12 the following 13 members:
13 (1) two consumer representatives who have lived experience in drug use
14 and consumption practices; two representatives from harm reduction service
15 providers; one expert on substance use disorder treatment and recovery, which
16 may include a medical practitioner providing medication-assisted treatment;
17 and one academic expert specializing in human behavior, addiction, and drug
18 policy, appointed by the Senate Committee on Committees;
19 (2) two consumer representatives who have lived experience in drug use
20 and consumption practices; two representatives from harm reduction service
21 providers; one expert on substance use disorder treatment and recovery, which VT LEG #372747 v.2
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1 may include a medical practitioner providing medication-assisted treatment;
2 and one academic expert specializing in human behavior, addiction, and drug
3 policy, appointed by the Speaker of the House; and
4 (3) an expert on legal reform appointed by the Center for Justice Reform
5 at Vermont Law and Graduate School.
6 (d) Upon convening, the members of the Drug Use Health and Safety
7 Advisory Board shall elect a chair by majority vote and shall fill any vacancy
8 of the Chair by the same. A majority of members shall constitute a quorum.
9 (e) On or before January 1, 2026, the Drug Use Health and Safety Advisory
10 Board shall provide the recommended quantities for benchmark personal use
11 supply for each category of regulated drug listed in subdivision 4201(29) of
12 this title.
13 (f) The Drug Use Health and Safety Advisory Board shall convene at least
14 one time per year to review benchmarks established pursuant to this section
15 and recommend any necessary amendments. The Chair of the Drug Use
16 Health and Safety Advisory Board may, with the consent of a majority of
17 Board members, convene additional meetings to receive testimony from
18 experts on drug use, substance use disorder, and medical research or practice
19 relating to any specific drug.
20 (g) Upon receipt of the benchmark recommendations, the Department of
21 Health shall expeditiously adopt the benchmark recommendations through VT LEG #372747 v.2
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