Today, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed S.17 legalizing medical marijuana dispensaries in the state. The law authorize up to four dispensaries throughout Vermont to provide medical marijuana patients a safe, legal, and reliable way to get the medicine they need.

In 2004 Vermont first legalized medical marijuana but under the old system patients were either required to grow their own or get marijuana from the black market. Since raising marijuana to the point it can be harvest takes awhile, patients were potentially be forced to suffer unnecessarily for weeks or months if they didn’t want to break the law.

With a regulated dispensary system patients in Vermont should be able to get relief more quickly.

Gov. Shumlin has proven to be a supporter of more reasonable marijuana policies. During the 2010 election he campaigned on both creating medical marijuana dispensaries and decriminalizing minor possession of marijuana.

A new report from the Vermont Legislature’s Joint Fiscal Office shows that decriminalizing marijuana would result in the state saving roughly $700,000 a year, making it a fiscally conservative move. From WCAX: Rep. Jason Lorber is pointing to a new study that shows the state spends over $700,000 going after people with less than two [...]