The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Vermont eliminates criminal penalties for personal-use drug possession and establishes the Community Care, Health, and Safety Special Fund
Last action · March 13, 2025: Read 1st time & referred to Committee on JudiciarySponsors: Tanya Vyhovsky and 2 others
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
What This Bill Would Do
This bill eliminates criminal and civil penalties for possessing or dispensing a benchmark personal-use supply of regulated drugs, effective January 1, 2026, while providing individuals with health needs screening information and access to services. It also creates the Drug Use Health and Safety Advisory Board and establishes special funds supported by cannabis excise taxes and opioid settlement monies to finance community-based support services.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
individuals who use drugs
harm reduction service providers
Providers are eligible to receive grant funding from the Community Care, Health, and Safety Special Fund to establish and operate resource centers and outreach services.
law enforcement personnel
Law officers are required to provide standard referral forms and health screening information to individuals found possessing or dispensing personal use quantities of regulated drugs.
substance use disorder treatment providers
Providers may receive grants and funding to expand low-barrier treatment, medications, and recovery services.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if someone is found in possession of a personal use supply of a regulated drug?
Who determines what qualifies as a 'benchmark personal use supply'?
How will the new community care and support services be funded?
Are individuals who complete a health screening required to use that information in court?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
1 action- Mar 13, 2025SenateIntroducedRead 1st time & referred to Committee on Judiciary
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Comprehensive Decriminalization Across All Regulated Drugs
The bill extends personal-use decriminalization provisions across a wide range of regulated drugs including cocaine, LSD, heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and hallucinogens, paired with mandatory health screenings.
Connected Entities
Sources
legislature.vermont.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance90How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy85Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz75Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools