Vermont H 189: 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

Bill Text

BILL AS INTRODUCED H.189
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H.189 1
Introduced by Representatives Headrick of Burlington, Cina of Burlington, 2
Masland of Thetford, and Rachelson of Burlington 3
Referred to Committee on 4
Date: 5
Subject: Regulated drugs; possessing and dispensing a benchmark personal use 6
supply; special funds for substance use, harm reduction, and support 7
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to establish the 8
Community Care, Health, and Safety Special Fund to provide grants for the 9
establishment and operation of community-based services intended to reduce 10
the harms of drug use and meet the needs of persons suffering from substance 11
use disorder; designate 40 percent of the cannabis excise tax and a portion of 12
the monies from the Opioid Abatement Special Fund for the Community Care, 13
Health, and Safety Special Fund; eliminate criminal penalties for possessing 14
and dispensing a personal use supply of drugs; require that a person found to 15
be possessing or dispensing an amount of a personal-use quantity of a 16
regulated drug be provided information and access to available services and 17
authorize the provision of monetary-equivalent incentives for participation in a 18
needs assessment; and establish the Drug Use Health and Safety Advisory 19
Board for the purpose of determining the benchmark personal use supply for 20
regulated drugs with a goal of preventing and reducing the criminalization of 21

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personal drug use and to distribute grants from the Community Care, Health, 1
and Safety Special Fund. 2
An act relating to funding support services for persons who use drugs and 3
eliminating misdemeanor criminal penalties for possessing or dispensing a 4
personal use drug supply 5
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 6
Sec. 1. FINDINGS 7
The General Assembly finds that: 8
(1) Fatal and nonfatal drug overdoses in Vermont are an urgent public 9
health crisis, with rates of overdose deaths rising sharply in recent years. Drug 10
overdose reportedly killed 264 Vermonters in 2022 and drug toxicity deaths 11
have increased by over 500 percent since 2010. 12
(2) Nonfatal opioid overdose emergency department visits have also 13
been increasing. From 2018 to 2021, 1,631 individuals visited an emergency 14
department for an opioid overdose. 15
(3) Research has consistently shown that public health strategies are 16
effective at reducing overdose deaths, reducing the transmission of infectious 17
diseases, and improving health outcomes for individuals who use drugs. 18
(4) Investments in criminal justice approaches have proven ineffective 19
in reducing overdose. Despite more than 10,000 arrests for drug possession 20

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offenses since 2010, fatal drug overdoses have continued to rise during this 1
period. 2
(5) The medical and public understanding that addiction is a chronic 3
brain disease has increased in recent years, yet Vermont’s laws have continued 4
to reflect a punitive criminal justice model that has been ineffective in 5
improving public health and has itself caused extensive harm. 6
(6) The criminalization of drug use has profoundly negative impacts on 7
individuals, families, and communities. The stigma of a criminal arrest or 8
conviction often results in detrimental physical, psychological, and economic 9
impacts on the lives of those arrested. Involvement in the criminal legal 10
system can interfere with employment, housing, educational opportunities, and 11
professional licensing and lead to burdensome debt from fines. According to a 12
2020 report by the Brennan Center for Justice, individuals convicted of a 13
misdemeanor have their annual earnings reduced by an average of 16 percent. 14
(7) Studies have also repeatedly found that periods of incarceration 15
substantially increase the risk of fatal overdose. Within the first two weeks of 16
release from incarceration, an individual is substantially more likely to die 17
from a fatal overdose than a person who was not detained. 18
(8) Criminalizing drug use and possession reduces the amount of 19
resources available for harm reduction and treatment services, deters 20
individuals from accessing available services due to fear of arrest, and 21

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compounds the social barriers and traumas often contributing to substance use 1
disorder. Arrests and prosecutions can further traumatize individuals who 2
were previously experiencing pain or suffering from prior traumatic events or 3
circumstances. 4
(9) Enforcement of the drug laws in Vermont, as well as nationally, falls 5
disproportionately on persons of color despite similar rates in usage and sale of 6
drugs. Prior to Vermont’s legalization of cannabis in 2018, Black persons 7
were six times more likely to be arrested for ca