On July 1, 2018 Vermont became the ninth state to allow the legal possession and consumption of cannabis for adult use. In other words, cannabis is now legal in Vermont. Under current law, any Vermonter 21 years of age or older can cultivate up to two mature and four immature plants and possess up to an ounce of dried cannabis. This step should be viewed as a stepping stone to a regulated retail market, also known as a “tax and regulate” market, for cannabis in Vermont. In 2019 the Vermont legislature should implement a tax and regulate market for cannabis. Such a market will provide a number of concrete public safety, public health, and economic benefits to the state. According to a 2…

The Favourite: **** I have no ambition. I started my first full-time job with health insurance in 2001. For eighteen straight years, I have had the exact same career goal: keep my job. Over the years, co-workers have asked me – in confusion – why I don’t want more. Those same co-workers tend to get disappointed and frustrated and leave the company. Other ambitious people in my office got everything they wanted but found that promotions and power didn’t make them any happier. Emma Stone stars as Abigail: the most ambitious person at the court of Queen Anne of England. Abigail has noble blood and a proper education. But her family fell on hard times. By the time we meet her i…

To the Editor, On Christmas day in Pittsford VT, a beloved family dog, who had escaped her yard, was shot and killed by someone who assumed the dog was a coyote. This large, blonde, husky mix with blue-eyes, floppy ears, and a fluffy coat, looked nothing like a coyote and was not exhibiting aggressive or threatening behavior. There was no justification for this tragedy, but I am not surprised that it happened. VT Fish & Wildlife Department (FWD) condones the persecution of coyotes, including shooting them on sight, 365 days a year. This Pittsford man saw a dog, assumed it was a wild canine, and shot it for no other reason than he could. Coyotes are regularly killed simply for being co…

To The Editor, Thank you to all of the merchants and retailers who have supported the Capital Soccer ’05 Boys & Girls teams achieve their fundraising goals to travel to Barcelona, Spain in April 2019 to train, compete and watch soccer. Since late September, you have let us solicit support at your places of business, you have donated products for raffles and events, and you have supported our raffle by purchasing tickets. Your support is helping 22 of the players make the trip to Spain, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. These children are in 7th and 8th grades from towns throughout central Vermont including Stowe, Montpelier, Waterbury, Warren, Duxbury, Barre, Calais, and Worcester.…

By G. E. Shuman I was writing this column for the paper the other day and told you how amazed I was that the holidays were over, and that another year had already passed. We talked a few moments, you and I, about how we would now need to practice writing another number for the year, and I know I said it would take a while for me to stop writing ‘last year’s’. I remember telling you how I simply can never get over how quickly the seasons pass. You nodded in agreement, I think. (Actually, I have no way of knowing that, but it makes me feel better if I think you are agreeing with me.) And now I sit here again, in the same spot in our home, writing about the fact that that ‘other day,’ whe…

“There’s only one difference between you and me. When I look at myself all I can see. I’m just another lady without a baby.” -Jenny Lewis, “One of the Boys” (2014)   One of the convenient things about being a man is that there is no stigma about being childless. When someone at work asks me why I’m 42 and have no kids, I can say it is because I’ve never wanted any and never will and that’s the end of the conversation. I’m confident that this makes me look like a decisive, independent-minded, somewhat self-centered guy; a regular dude with absolutely nothing to apologize for.  A woman in the same position faces more brazen, thoughtless questions (“are you SURE?” “do you t…

The ACLU of Vermont family is deeply saddened by the passing of Scott Skinner. Skinner was the ACLU of Vermont’s seventh Executive Director, from 1982 to 1988, served on the Board of Directors from 1991 to 1993, and remained a close friend and supporter of the organization for the rest of his life. Some of the highlights from Skinner’s ACLU tenure included investigating and filing suit in the Island Pond raid (1984); winning a Superior Court ruling that it was unconstitutional for the state to refuse Medicaid funding for medically necessary abortions (1986); initiating and supporting passage of bill limiting workplace drug testing (1987); establishing the ACLU of Vermont’s first developme…

(a fanciful story) By G. E. Shuman It has been many years since I first became guardian of this place, for these few weeks, at this magical time of the year. I have no idea of the number of those past years and have failed at counting the long periods of rest and darkness in between the wonderful times of light. Those most recent eleven black months are over, again, and I have been elevated, once more, to my high position in this lofty corner of my domain. From here I look down upon my world and seem to be master and ruler of all within my sight. In truth, my job is that of overseer. My world certainly is beautiful from up here. The green and spreading expanses below me are filled w…

Life Lessons Learned From a Mythical Man: **** I have great empathy for celebrities. They can’t have a break-up, a drug-addiction, or an ill-conceived Tweet without the whole world knowing about it. However, all bets are off when celebrities start getting political and telling me what to do and think. Then my empathy quickly turns to disdain. Just because you look handsome while robbing a casino does not mean you know more about geopolitics than me. You know less. Fortunately, there is one celebrity who is bringing us together rather than tearing us apart. There is one celebrity is doesn’t think he is better than us but actually is. Of course it’s Bill Murray. Apparently, the…