Late Tuesday evening, the House approved a bill that would legalize possession of marijuana for adults.

The measure, H.170, would remove all penalties for adult possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. It would also allow adults to grow up to two mature and four immature marijuana plants per household.

The legislation would not, however, create a regulatory structure for pot sales.

The House approved the bill 74 to 68. It will come up for final approval Wednesday.

While the vote represents a significant victory for advocates of marijuana legalization, the finish line is a long way off.

The timing — just five days before lawmakers are expected to break for the year — makes passage in the Senate highly unlikely this year. H.170 has not yet been through the Senate, though the upper chamber did send a separate bill to the House last month that would set up a regulatory and tax system for retail sales of marijuana.

If the bill lands on Gov. Phil Scott’s desk, there is no guarantee he will sign it. Scott is not staunchly opposed to marijuana legalization, but he has said the timing isn’t right. [Read more at VTDigger]