State is 9th to legalize recreational pot for adults, allow home cultivation

BURLINGTON, Vt. —

Vermont on Sunday will end a decades long prohibition of recreational use of marijuana.

“It’s a huge deal. And it’s been a long time coming,” said Eli Harrington, a legalization advocate who co-founded the group Heady Vermont.

The state’s reform law, known as Act 86, was signed by Republican Gov. Phil Scott in January.

The law takes effect Sunday, July 1.

Vermont will allow adults 21 and older to carry up to 1 ounce of processed marijuana and grow a small number of plants at home, or on private property with the landowner’s permission.

The law limits cultivation to no more than two mature plants (with visible marijuana buds) or four immature plants.

Critics of the law worried that two mature plants might produce at least a pound of marijuana.

Whatever is derived from two mature plants is permitted under Act 86 if secured at home.

Private sales or purchases remain illegal, though the law allows adults to share call quantities of marijuana — or cannabis — as advocates prefer to call it. [Read More @ MYNBC]