MONTPELIER, Vt. — The Vermont Senate on Thursday voted to legalize recreational marijuana use and cultivation, defying federal law.
Despite warnings from law enforcement and members of the medical community, senators voted to permit residents age 21 and older to smoke marijuana purchased from growers and retailers licensed in the state.
The 17-12 vote put Vermont on track to become the fifth state in which recreational pot smoking is legal.
If approved by the House and signed by the governor, Vermont would join Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington state in openly disregarding federal law on recreational pot use. Since 1996, twenty-three states and Washington, D.C., have passed laws allowing marijuana for medicinal use.
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