Can A Dispute About Seatbelt Legislation Really Scupper Maine’s Cannabis Legislation ?

Being from a country (Australia) where not wearing a seatbelt in the state of NSW earns you the following fines, and quite rightly so, we find this debate beyond bizarre !

NSW (Australia) Seatbelt Fines

Seat belts & restraints   

But in Maine the citizen obviously has the right to kill him/herself and all their passengers.. go figure.

Marijuana Moment reports…

Key Vermont lawmakers announced on Wednesday that they are working to finalize a bill to legalize marijuana sales by the end of this month, but disagreements over an unrelated provision dealing with seat belt policy could jeopardize the plan.

While advocates felt encouraged that a bicameral conference committee convened to hash out differences between versions of the cannabis legislation passed by the House and Senate, the meeting of the six lawmakers became especially contentious when the discussion turned to seat belts.

The House inserted a section in their version of the marijuana bill that would allow police to pull people over for not wearing seat belts—a proposal that’s been a consistent source of controversy in the Vermont legislature. During the bicameral negotiation session, the bill’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Dick Sears (D), called the provision a “deal killer.”

“If the House is going to insist on this provision then we might as well walk away,” he said.

Rep. John Gannon (D), who chairs the House Committee on Government Operations, responded that it’s a “critical position for the House” that “goes to our concern about highway safety.”

Sen. Joe Benning (R) argued that allowing police to pull people over for failing to wear a seat belt would lead to unnecessary police encounters that are likely to have a racially disparate impact.

We will let you read on from here. If you can’t wear a seatbelt you are probably to stupid to smoke cannabis would be our take, but then again what do we know !

Vermont Marijuana Sales Legalization Bill Caught Up In Spat Over Seat Belt Provision

 

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