Cannabis legalization and regulation.

People smoke pot, regardless of its legality. They have been doing so for thousands of years. The prohibition on marijuana began as a strategic political maneuver. There has never been a valid medical, scientific, or moral argument against research and use. Especially not when we encourage, regulate and tax alcohol and tobacco. Adults should have the choice of marijuana both medically and recreational.
We already have in place laws that regulate the sale of alcohol and tobacco. Those same laws should be adequate to the task of regulating marijuana. Marijuana is a valuable cash crop for Vermont. Quite frankly, you can bet your boots that "Big Tobacco" has already planned and strategized how they are going to approach the sale, regulation and advertising of marijuana. They probably already have ready-to-be patented strains.
I believe that Vermont should not only tax and regulate marijuana, but that it should also take into consideration the "Vermont" brand and tourist trade in developing those regulations. Before corporations have the chance to dump chemical laden, nasty weed on our state, start now to develop a Vermont artisan marijuana movement and take control of how it will be seen and treated here at home.
Rather than simply legalize, encourage acceptance. Be the first state to embrace the business opportunities that marijuana represents. Consider not only the number of jobs that could be created by encouraging cannabis entrepreneurship, not just the revenue, but also the draw of young business people back to Vermont. We are getting old. the average age in Vermont continues to climb as our young people leave. As a state we missed the boat on both tech and alternative energy. But we have an opportunity to position the state to be in on the ground floor of the cannabis legalization movement, the Silicon Valley of cannabis.
I know that not everyone agrees. there are people who will never see cannabis as anything other than a horrible drug. But, as we saw with civil unions and then same sex marriage, not everyone is going to agree. But when it comes down to it, I'd rather benefit from it than waste resources fighting the inevitable. We can legalize, tax, regulate, and promote now. Or we will deal with decisions made by others 10 years from now. I believe that Vermont has enough common sense to tackle this issue and create from it a cultural shift.
There are strains of cannabis created here in Vermont that are to connoisseurs what Boucher Blue is to cheese, what Lincoln Peak is to wine, what  Vermont Smoke and Cure is to meat, what Phish is to music, what Burton is to snowboards........quintessential Vermont. Why lose that?