Photo via mynbc5
Montpelier police have discovered an unexpected kind of weed growing in the flowerbeds of the Vermont State House this week: Cannabis sativa.
On Monday, a visitor to the State House pointed out what looked like a pot plant nestled among the fragrant flowers growing on the capitol lawn. Capitol Police arrived on the scene and discovered not one, but 32 young cannabis plants growing in the gardens. On Thursday, two more plants were discovered.
“The beds are maintained — as you can see — very well by Buildings and General Services,” Capitol Police Chief Matthew Romei told CBS affiliate WCAX3. “They really know how to run a flower bed. It’s an impressive display every year but I don’t think they included this in their annual rollout. We were kind of surprised. I don’t think anyone was expecting to find that.”
“If there is a typical Vermont story this is probably it,” Romei told NBC5.
The police chief explained that although cannabis is “legal to cultivate… there are limits on where you can do it, and the statehouse flower beds certainly aren’t one of those permissible sites.”
Even so, cops have no intention of arresting the individual who planted these seeds.
“We still don’t know whether it’s marijuana or hemp and, quite frankly, don’t intend on spending the resources to test it because there’s not a criminal case to be had over it,” Romei told WCAX.
Last year, Vermont became the first US state to legalize adult-use via an act of legislature. Since last July, adult residents of the Green Mountain State have been able to grow two pot plants for personal use, possess up to an ounce, and get lifted in the privacy of their own homes. The adult-use law does not include provisions for cannabis sales, which still remain strictly prohibited, and recent attempts to establish an adult-use retail market in Vermont have failed.
Local police are still curious as to exactly why these pot plants were planted amongst the capitol gardens. “We also have no thoughts on why someone would plant it,” the department said, according to CNN. “But if anyone wants to claim it and let us know why they planted it, we are happy to listen.”
The mysterious pot planter has yet to come forward, but it’s possible to imagine that some merry prankster may have planted them just to give Montpelier residents a legal place to score some weed.
