MONTPELIER – After a lengthy debate that lasted more than two days, the Vermont legislature has approved a bill that would ban the sale of alcohol in the state, while limiting personal possession of alcohol. Gov. Scott is expected to sign the bill this week, and the new laws will go into effect July 1st.
Under the new laws, all sale of alcohol and alcoholic beverages will become illegal, and individual Vermonters will be permitted to possess no more than 40 oz. of beer or wine, 20 oz. of spirits or hard liquor, and 48 Zimas. For those choosing to brew their own beer, they will be allowed two mature kegs, or four fermenting kegs.
“This wasn’t something that we thought of as a priority at the beginning of the legislative session,” said House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, “but when someone asked why cannabis was so heavily regulated when alcohol was not, well, it really made us think. This seemed to be the only fair way to do it.
Liquor stores along the Vermont border in Canada, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts are already prepping for the huge demand that is expected this summer, and six new breweries are already under construction in Plattsburgh following the announcement.
“I think this is really going to boost the economy,” said Gov. Scott. “I mean, not ours obviously, but the economies of our neighbors. It’s just something nice we can do for them.”
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