3 biggest take aways from Town Meeting Day in Franklin County

“In Sheldon this year, retail sales were approved by just two votes, 71-69.

“I knew it was gonna be close,” Selectboard Chair Stephen Dodd said. “I thought it might go the other way, actually. It depended on who we had for voters.”

Sheldon officials decided to put the measure on the ballot after hearing from Ben and Jane Lanza, owners of This Is Family Tree Hemp Co. The couple grows organic hemp on their farm in Sheldon Springs and sells a variety of CBD products.

“They’re real knowledgeable about all this,” Dodd said. “They’ve been following all the state laws. They came in and we had a couple other people who stopped in in support of it. So we figured we’d put it to the voters.” Read the whole article

On Oct. 1, recreational marijuana use will become legal in the State of Vermont, but towns have the ability to opt-in or out of retail sales. Over the last year, Vermont’s Cannabis Control Board (CCB) has been steadily releasing the regulatory foundations of the industry. Dodd said the Sheldon select-board will await further state guidelines before determining its own regulations for the market.