Vermont Effort To Overturn Governor’s Safe Drug Consumption Site Veto Fails By A Single Vote

“From my perspective, this bill is inconsistent with other laws related to legalized substance use.”

By Kastalia Medrano, Filter

The Vermont General Assembly failed to gather enough votes to overturn the governor’s veto of a safe consumption site (SCS) pilot, ending the push to authorize SCS for now. After the House voted in favor of overturning the veto, only 19 senators voted to do the same. They needed at least 20.

On Monday, the Democrat-controlled legislature reconvened to address items left unfinished in May. The bill to authorize an SCS was one of seven vetoed by Governor Phil Scott (R) that potentially had enough support to be voted into law without his approval. Overturning each veto required a two-thirds supermajority.

On May 30, Scott vetoed H.72, the proposal to authorize a pilot program with an SCS slated for Burlington. The bill as introduced would have included funding for two sites, but the second had been cut in the final version that made it to the governor’s desk.

Vermont would have become the third state to authorize SCS, following Rhode Island and Minnesota. New York City remains the only jurisdiction to actually open SCS, with two sites operating under local authorization since 2021.

Over the past five years, fatal overdose in Vermont has increased 500 percent. Fentanyl was involved in 95 percent of overdose deaths recorded by the Vermont Department of Health in 2023.

Though seven vetoes were on the June 17 agenda, Scott issued eight this session in total. In April, he chose not to sign legislation that would have banned flavored tobacco products. The legislature did not take this up alongside the other vetos discussed at the session.

“From my perspective, this bill is inconsistent with other laws related to legalized substance use,” Scott wrote in his veto letter. “In 2020, the Legislature legalized the commercial sale of cannabis, including edibles and other flavored products, which are now widely available, despite the known risks to youth and their developing brains. Yet, to my knowledge, I’m not aware of an initiative to ban such products.”

This mischaracterizes the relative risks of both THC edibles and of flavored vapes.

Since taking office in 2016, Scott has issued more vetoes than any Vermont governor to precede him.

This article was originally published by Filter, an online magazine covering drug use, drug policy and human rights through a harm reduction lens. Follow Filter on Facebook or Twitter, or sign up for its newsletter.