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(12/07/17 12:35am)
On Monday, Nov. 27, the Middlebury Development Review Board (DRB) heard a proposal by Champlain Valley Dispensary (CVD) to establish a medical-marijuana dispensary in Addison County.
Following the passage of Act 65 on Thursday, June 8, 2017, Champlain Valley Dispensary was able to start the search for an additional location. The act made various reforms to the Vermont Marijuana Registry. These changes include the addition of Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of medical conditions that qualify a patient to be on the registry, as well as the expansion of the number of dispensary licenses available from four to five. Moreover, Act 65 allows a dispensary to serve a patient at two locations under the same license and eliminates the regulation that a dispensary be a nonprofit organization.
Currently, CVD serves approximately 3,000 qualifying patients, or two-thirds of the state’s medical marijuana patients, through its Burlington and Brattleboro locations. Vermont Department of Public Safety reports that as of Aug. 24, Addison County had 233 patients enrolled in the Marijuana Registry. CVD is hoping to appeal to those cardholders at the proposed location at 1641 Route 7 South, owned by Stepping Stone Investments LLC and formerly occupied by Planned Parenthood.
At the hearing last Monday, Shayne Lynn, executive director of CVD, cited easy access and parking as two reasons why the Middlebury location is ideal. Lynn responded to concerns from members of the DRB about traffic increases, saying that the present owners also own the adjacent property, which would provide adequate room to expand parking. Additionally, the Addison County Independent reports that the Route 7 location “meets a criterion prescribed in state law: It is more than 1,000 feet away from a nursery, childcare facility or school.”
Current zoning regulations in the town of Middlebury do not include the possibility of a medical marijuana dispensary, which is why CVD has pitched itself as a “retail dispensary.” According to the Independent, the qualification of the location as a “retail” establishment could allow for its approval in the Protected Highway District on a conditional basis. Thus, CVD’s proposal includes both the medical marijuana dispensary and its sister company, Ceres Natural Remedies.
“Customers would need to be registered with the state to purchase medical marijuana products, but the purchase of cannabidiol (CBD — a compound found in the hemp plant) products from the Ceres store would be open to the general public over the age of 18,” Lynn explained at the hearing. He described CBD products as “non-intoxicating” and as a form of enhancing “the medical effectiveness of the medical marijuana products.”
Lynn emphasized that the medical marijuana dispensary and Ceres Natural Remedies are separate operations and will be conducted as such. “This is a retail operation not unlike other retail establishments like Rite Aid or other pharmacies. At the Brattleboro and Burlington locations, these two stores are co-located with other businesses with no problems,” said Lynn.
As he explained in the Independent,“Ceres carries around 15 cannabidiol products that have become popular among folks who want relief from the symptoms of neuropathy, epilepsy, sleep disorders and other ailments – without the intoxicating effects of marijuana.
Lynn does not believe that the success of the dispensary is contingent upon the Ceres store. However, he explained that “it increases the amount of time [CVD] has to consult with [its] patients, and it allows family members to be involved in the visit, as they are not allowed to enter with patients on the dispensary side.”
At the Route 7 location, CVD’s sister company would sell “alternative homeopathic-type products,” including capsules, transdermal patches, oils and topical creams. Vaporizers are the only potential paraphernalia that Ceres would offer. Fifty percent of CVD’s patients buy these products with the intent of enhancing their medical treatment. Bridget Conry, CVD operations manager, told the DRB that Ceres has grown as a business largely because of referrals from the medical professional community.
Members of the board asked the CVD director to explain what would happen “on each side of the locked door.” Lynn clarified that medical marijuana patients would be invited into a separate locked and secure area for services, which are governed by strict state rules. Vermont Statutes Annotated chapter 86, subchapter 2, stipulates that regarding the therapeutic use of cannabis and the creation of marijuana dispensaries, “all cultivation of marijuana must take place in an enclosed, locked facility,” access to which is limited to approved personnel. Additionally, the Vermont Department of Public Safety conducts background checks of each principal officer, board member, and employee of registered dispensaries.
“CVD is committed to making sure [its] business operation and facility is safe for patients, customers, and employees,” Lynn said. “Patient privacy is a concern, and CVD is willing to improve landscaping to achieve this objective if the Development Review Board feels that is necessary.”
The CVD application also includes security components such as a video surveillance system, backup power sources in case of electrical failure, lockboxes and safes for the purpose of storing cannabis, and communication with local law enforcement.
The DRB brought up the possibility of the legalization of recreational/adult use of marijuana, expressing concerns over the impact of that change with this proposed addition to the town of Middlebury.
“The medical-marijuana market is very important to [CVD],” said Lynn, and its needs are “very different from the needs of the recreational adult market. CVD would be willing to come back [to the DRB] for an amendment if [legalization] occurred.”
After examining CVD’s proposed application and considering the testimony presented at last Monday’s hearing, the DRB unanimously authorized the drafting of a conceptual approval to be signed by the board’s chair following further review.
(11/30/17 12:22am)
On Wednesday, Dec. 6, Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) and Middlebury’s Marquis Theater on 65 Main Street will present the second installment of “Seeing Color/Seeking Justice,” billed as “a racial identities/racial justice film series.”
The screenings, which take place on the first Wednesday of every month at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., aim to educate Vermonters and visitors about current and historical injustices done to black Americans and people of color and how these manifest in the local community, while raising funds to support local anti-racist organizations.
Next week’s film, “Loving,” delves into the history of interracial marriage in the U.S. It is a fictionalized story of the relationship between Richard and Mildred Loving, plaintiffs in the 1967 Supreme Court case (Loving v. Virginia), which overruled state laws that prohibited interracial marriage. This year marks only the 50th year since this landmark Supreme Court decision. In a recent New York Times movie review, “Loving” is described as “startling” due to its “insistent, quotidian quiet” — “it was the absolute ordinariness of their love that defined them [Richard and Mildred], and that made the fight for it into an indelible story of this country.”
“Rumble,” shown in November as the first film of the series, is a documentary about how Native Americans of Canada and the U.S. influenced rock ’n’ roll in America. The proceeds from the screening went to support the effort led by the Vermont Abenaki Tribe to replace Columbus Day permanently with Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the state.
“We have a two-pronged mission,” said Joanna Colwell, one of SURJ’s Middlebury organizers, “to educate white folks in our community about how white supremacy and bigotry harm everyone, and to funnel money toward Black Lives Matter and Migrant Justice.”
SURJ Middlebury is a chapter of a national network of groups and individuals organizing white people for racial justice. According to the 2010 Census, Vermont is 95.3 percent white, making it one of the whitest states in the country.
As Bernie Sanders’ home state, Vermont is considered by many to be “a liberal, progressive state,” as Colwell said, “but liberals and progressives have a tremendous amount of work to do to understand [our] own privilege and begin to dismantle racist ideas in our own minds, as well as in our communities. We will not succeed in uprooting institutional racism without making an effort to understand it.”
Colwell also addressed the current challenge on the college’s campus of getting people who would not otherwise self-select to show up — faculty, staff, students and administrators alike — engaged in the push for racial justice.
SURJ Middlebury hopes to tackle this “crisis of empathy,” as Colwell labels it, and acknowledge the truth of racial inequity and violence in our country. This film series provides one means of doing what Colwell aims to do.
“I feel like great films can be a powerful way to increase empathy,” said Colwell.
Ben Wells, owner of the Marquis Theatre, reported in the Addison County Independent that “seeing movies brings us together as a community and can show us aspects of ourselves that may have been hidden [to us].”
Wells, Colwell and fellow SURJ organizer Kathy Comstock chose the films for the series after putting on multiple showings of “I Am Not Your Negro” in March of 2017. SURJ and The Marquis Theater are promoting this year’s film series through local papers, faith communities, social media and flyers around town and on campus to achieve maximum attendance.
“We hear the voices on campus (students and faculty of color) who feel like Middlebury has not been an inclusive or welcoming environment, especially after the Murray fiasco. We are always looking for ways to listen better and amplify those voices,” said Colwell. The SURJ organizer acknowledged that the group’s efforts are imperfect. They welcome input about how they can do better.
SURJ Middlebury emphasizes the recognition of past injustices and the lived experiences of people of color in order to build a society free of discrimination and racial violence. The racial justice film series attempts to create a wider audience for this mission.
The recommended contribution for moviegoers is $10. The funds donated at the screening of “Loving” will go in part to the Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh, Vermont, which presents “Free & Safe: The Underground Railroad in Vermont,” an exhibit tracing an important story of two slaves battling for freedom in the decades leading up to the Civil War. Though there will not be a screening in January, the film series at the Marquis will continue in February with “Whose Streets” (2017), a documentary showcasing the Ferguson uprising and the global movement responding to the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown. The film, directed by activists Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis, draws attention to police brutality in St. Louis County and the greater U.S.
In March, the documentary “Step” (2017) will be shown. Director Amanda Lipitz follows the lives of three seniors of the first graduating class at the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women and their struggles to get to and graduate from college. The stories of the individuals in this documentary intertwine through their participation on their school’s step dance team in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray.
In April, the project will show “Dolores” (2017), the story of a lesser-known activist in U.S. history: Dolores Huerta. Huerta is a feminist and, along with Cesar Chavez, cofounder of the first farmworkers’ union. At 87, she is still fighting for racial and social justice. “Dolores” illustrates the challenges she faced in her fight for social equity in the 20th century.
The final movie in the series, “Little Boxes” (2017), will be shown in May. Despite comedic overtones, the movie touches on themes relevant to life in Middlebury, given that Vermont is one of the whitest states in the U.S. The film tells the fictional story of a biracial family who moves from Brooklyn to Rome, a predominantly white town in rural Washington, exploring the family’s difficulties adjusting to a different living situation and social context.
Students interested in this project should be on the lookout for advertisements for upcoming screenings.
(11/01/17 5:14pm)
MIDDLEBURY — On Monday, Oct. 16, Gov. Phil Scott and Secretary of State Jim Condos announced that reforms to Vermont’s regulations concerning licensing of substance-abuse counselors had been approved. The governor signed an executive order creating the Opioid Coordination Council on his first day in office in order to “help establish a more cohesive and streamlined approach to [combatting the] opioid epidemic.”
The council has worked for the past five months to modernize and consolidate 31 pages of regulations into 10 pages without minimizing the quality of professionals in the addiction treatment and recovery field. These changes were made in order to address what Gov. Scott called Vermont’s “substance use disorder workforce crisis.” Licensed treatment specialists represent “a critical need as we work to improve and help those suffering from addiction move to and stay in recovery,” he said.
State Senator Claire Ayer (VT-D), who is a registered nurse and holds a degree in environmental studies from Middlebury College, has chaired the Vermont Senate’s Committee on Health and Welfare since 2011. “The opioid crisis is affecting Addison County the way it is affecting the rest of the nation,” Ayer said. “But we have a shortage of counselors and treatment specialists to respond to the epidemic.”
Ayer cited two main reasons for this shortage of counselors. First, substance abuse counseling is a challenging and often underpaid field. Additionally, the 31 pages of regulations that determined who could become a counselor included many arbitrary and unreasonable specifications. For example, Ayer said, aspiring counselors would come to Vermont without understanding how difficult it is to become a counselor here. These people would often be denied because they did an internship or took a class with the wrong name, even if the subject met the criteria. According to health officials, reports Peter Hirschfield of Vermont Public Radio, an addition of at least 100 counselors is necessary for the state to fight the opioid disaster effectively.
In light of this, officials are focusing on increasing interest in this job field with initiatives like a loan repayment program for those who come to live and work in Vermont and on increasing resources for primary care. The Health and Welfare Committee also requested that the Vermont Office of Public Regulation take action to ease licensing requisites for substance-abuse counselors and mental health professionals in general.
“We are trying to make licensing more sensible,” said Ayer.
According to news organization VTDigger, the regulation reforms were passed under emergency rulemaking, meaning that they will stay in place for no longer than 120 days as lawmakers evaluate them for permanence.
Addiction treatment specialists provide social support and many other services that people who struggle with drug addiction often need. “[Treatment] is not as simple as getting a shot and immediately recovering from an addiction,” explained Ayer. “There are often more complicated mental health issues involved.”
According to the Center for Disease Control, the opioid crisis has killed over half a million people from 2000 to 2015. These changes in Vermont law come at a time when federal funding is uncertain. Ayer noted that if President Trump succeeds in reforming the Affordable Care Act, access to substance abuse counseling and treatment could be cut for many Americans, including Vermonters.
Last Thursday, Oct. 26, President Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency rather than a national disaster. Ayer says the main difference between the two classifications is the money and resources that accompany each. If Trump had declared a national disaster, there would be more immediate action and funding to combat the crisis.
Gov. Scott emphasized that the updates to regulations implemented on October 16th “reflect the sense of urgency we feel in addressing opioid addiction in Vermont.”
(10/18/17 11:42pm)
MIDDLEBURY — At a public hearing hosted by the Vermont Climate Action Commission in Brattleboro on Thursday, Oct. 5, Middlebury students joined community members to discuss solutions to reduce carbon emissions and fight climate change. Many solutions were proposed, including incentivizing renewables, divestment from fossil fuel companies and government subsidies of weatherization, with carbon pricing being the most popular.
“It really struck me to get to hear from Vermonters because you realize that all of these issues are impacting their lives and the things that they care about,” Oscar Psychas ’21 said about his experience at the hearing. “One thing I love about Vermont is that people are really civically engaged — they really care about making a positive difference in the government. I think it’s an exciting opportunity if Middlebury can be a part of that Vermont community and democratic spirit to take part in finding solutions to these important issues.”
For Vermont, a state reliant on agriculture, addressing these issues is all the more urgent. Following President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, many institutions, states and countries have agreed to continue to try to meet carbon emission reduction goals.
Vermont is a part of these ranks. Governor Phil Scott (R) signed Executive Order No. 12-17 in July 2017, creating the Vermont Climate Action Commission (VCAC) as a part of his commitment to reduce the state’s carbon emissions. The VCAC aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a way that will boost the economy and affect all Vermonters equally.
Although the carbon pricing initiative proved popular among residents, Gov. Scott has rejected the proposal. In a statement from September, Gov. Phil Scott said “I will veto a carbon tax if it comes to my desk because we cannot make Vermont more affordable by making it less affordable.” He also said that “real solutions will strengthen the economy and not add to the crisis of affordability many families and business are facing.”
Many agree with the governor that carbon pricing would negatively affect Vermont residents, citing higher gas prices as a concern.
Bennett Pienkowski ’20.5 explained another perspective: “Carbon pricing will be a net positive for the economy of Vermont because it is a potentially revenue-neutral campaign that will help us reduce emissions. The thought being that if you raise the price on carbon, we will spend less on carbon, and then less money will leave the state in the form of fossil fuel revenues. The money that doesn’t leave the state is going to be spent locally.”
Bennington College student Sabrina Melendez explained this idea further in an interview for VTDigger. “[Revenue-neutral] means taxing carbon emissions of fossil fuel companies at the extraction and distribution level and returning that money to the people of Vermont to make up for higher gas prices,” she said.
According to the Manchester Journal, although the ‘listening tour’ held by the Climate Action Commission has received praise, many are urging Gov. Scott to take the next step and uphold his commitment to the reduction of carbon emissions by supporting a carbon tax in Vermont.
At the Snow Bowl Family Bash on Saturday, Oct. 14, students hosted an educational booth in order to spread the word about the carbon pricing initiative at Middlebury. Leif Taranta ’20.5, a student who worked at the booth, shared some thoughts about the effort.
“We must live in occurrence with the values that we put forth. Middlebury is proud to have a carbon neutral campus and to model environmental sustainability, yet we still have harmful carbon emissions. There are many ways to take responsibility including divestment from fossil fuel companies and investment in renewables, but carbon pricing is one concrete, localized step we can take now, especially because we cannot count on the federal government to take action against climate change,” he said.
In addition to supporting the initiative on a state level, students at the Snow Bowl advocated for localized carbon pricing within Middlebury College.
“For the rest of the semester we’re going to be collecting signatures and getting people excited about supporting a carbon price on campus so that we’re upholding our own commitment to sustainability,” said Psychas. “That carbon price is not going to be coming out of the pockets of students, faculty or staff of the college.” President Laurie Patton has agreed to endorse the petition if enough signatures from the student body are collected, he said.
“We’re a leading education institution, maybe the leading educational institution in the state, and so I think when we take action, especially in such a small state, it sets a tone,” Pienkowski said. “And so if we institute our own carbon charge and get President Laurie Patton to support it, that says a lot.”
The Sunday Night Group, a group that focuses on environmental problems and awareness on campus, particularly climate activism, will be hosting more events in the coming weeks. On Thursday, Oct. 19, at 4:30 p.m. in front of Old Chapel, they will be teaching about divestment, another important step that Middlebury can take towards combating climate change and protecting the environment.