House concurs with Senate amendments to expand youth substance awareness program, adds cannabis possession to diversion statute

The Vermont House of Representatives on the floor concurred in a Senate proposal of amendment to H.105, an act expanding the Youth Substance Awareness Safety Program (YSASP), moving cannabis possession for some youths from delinquency proceedings to civil diversion and adding a review process for automatic motor-vehicle license suspensions.

The change places certain underage cannabis possession offenses under 7 V.S.A. §656 (the statute governing underage alcohol diversion) so those offenses are treated like alcohol-possession diversion cases for youth ages 12–21. The Senate amendments repeal duplicative provisions that treated cannabis possession as delinquency and add a definition section and cross-reference fixes so terms align with Title 23. The amendments also add a procedure under Vermont Rule 75 of civil procedure to allow review of automatic license suspensions issued by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles.

The Senate proposal of amendment also revises notice language for diversion and DMV actions so that a notice of violation indicates when multiple substances are present and clarifies that the notice of license suspension must state that the automatic suspension may be reviewed under Rule 75. The House judiciary committee reported that the committee heard testimony in favor of the changes from the State Court Administrator (Vermont Judiciary), the Director of Court Diversion and Pretrial Services, the Legislative Attorney to the Vermont Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs, Legislative Counsel, the Deputy Defender General and Chief Juvenile Defender from the Defender General’s Office, and the Youth Restorative Program Coordinator at the Burlington Community Justice Center. The committee reported a straw poll of 9-0-2 in favor of the amendments.

Representative from Brattleboro asked for clarification on whether the provision covers edible products. Representative from Springfield replied, “No, madam speaker. So if they possessed gummies that had cannabis in them, that would be possessing cannabis.” The record shows that possession, not consumption, is the focus of the civil diversion treatment. The transcript also records the statutory thresholds the amendment incorporates: knowingly possessing one ounce or less of cannabis, five grams or less of hashish, two mature cannabis plants or fewer, or four immature cannabis plants or fewer.

Formal action: the House voted to concur in the Senate proposal of amendment to H.105 and the motion carried (voice vote recorded as ayes prevailing). The House previously suspended the rules to take up H.105 for immediate consideration.

The amendments are intended to preserve YSASP’s educational and rehabilitative framework while aligning cannabis possession treatment with existing alcohol diversion procedures and adding an avenue to contest automatic DMV suspensions.