Yes, you read that headline correctly!

What’s the problem?

In Vermont, we have no public spaces to consume cannabis – in fact, you can receive a $100 fine if caught puffing a doob in public! Technically, the only place you can legally smoke weed is your home, and if you rent, you may not even be allowed to smoke in your apartment. We at the Bern Gallery find this legislation to be unnecessarily limiting from an equitability standpoint. If an adult can legally purchase cannabis, they should be allowed to respectfully consume at their own discretion.

What’s Bern Gallery doing about it? 

The Bern Gallery always has our community’s back, which is why we’ve decided to unveil this campaign! Any adult who gets fined for smoking weed in public can bring us the ticket and the smokeshop will pay it!! It really is as simple as it sounds. Just bring us the ticket, we’ll take about 24 to verify the citation’s authenticity, and then we’ll pay it!! 

Is there anywhere that people SHOULDN’T smoke?

While we want people to feel free to be themselves and enjoy an unencumbered toke, there are definitely some spaces that we do not encourage folks to light up. We will not cover any tickets cited for people smoking in vehicles or on private property / in a business. For safety and respect purposes, that delineation seems like a no brainer. That means, for any other public space: get after it!! 💨

How can I be a respectful public smoker? 

We highly encourage basic smoking etiquette when enjoying weed in public. What that means to us is just have basic self awareness! If a family is walking by, kindly step aside and remember to never blow smoke directly at passers by. Also, never litter your roaches! Always pocket the end of your joint until you can properly dispose of it. Nobody wants to give weed a bad rep, and we firmly believe that there is a middle ground between having to hide our adult habits and being a d*ck.

What is Bern Gallery’s end goal in this campaign?

We’re hoping to help pave the way for an inclusive, modern, and FUN landscape for cannabis culture in Vermont. Public consumption is no small piece of that puzzle, and we hope that by opening up the dialogue around these laws, some gears will turn in the minds of our legislators. New York State allows adults to smoke cannabis anywhere you can smoke a cigarette, which feels like a completely reasonable code of conduct to us.

With all that said: Go roll up and enjoy a doob! 😋💨