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Vermont Senate Votes to Decriminalize Marijuana

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Wikimedia Commons Public Domain

The Vermont Senate has approved legislation that would remove criminal penalties and replace them with civil fines like a traffic ticket for possession of up to an ounce of marijuana.

By a vote of 24-6, the Senate on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to a bill similar to one that already has passed the House.

The Senate version has some differences from the bill that passed the House, among them that fines would increase for a second or third and subsequent offenses.

The Senate bill also contains a provision under which someone profiting from the sale of marijuana could face enhanced penalties for not paying taxes on the income from drug sales.

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.