vtdigger.org · Shaun Robinson · September 8, 2026
Lt. Gov. John Rodgers follows along as the Senate discusses a bill at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
" data-large-file="https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/john-rodgers-1-20250319-1200x792.jpg" /> Lt. Gov. John Rodgers follows along as the Senate discusses a bill at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
" data-large-file="https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/john-rodgers-1-20250319-1200x792.jpg" src="https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/john-rodgers-1-20250319-1200x792.jpg" alt="Man sitting on an ornate chair reading papers at a wooden desk in a room with heavy curtains and an American flag." class="wp-image-618404" srcset="https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/john-rodgers-1-20250319-1200x792.jpg 1200w, https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/john-rodgers-1-20250319-300x198.jpg 300w, https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/john-rodgers-1-20250319-125x83.jpg 125w, https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/john-rodgers-1-20250319-768x507.jpg 768w, https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/john-rodgers-1-20250319-1536x1014.jpg 1536w, https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/john-rodgers-1-20250319-2048x1352.jpg 2048w, https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/john-rodgers-1-20250319-1024x676.jpg 1024w, https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/john-rodgers-1-20250319-1568x1035.jpg 1568w, https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/john-rodgers-1-20250319-2000x1320.jpg 2000w, https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/john-rodgers-1-20250319-400x264.jpg 400w, https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/john-rodgers-1-20250319-706x466.jpg 706w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /> Lt. Gov. John Rodgers follows along as the Senate discusses a bill at the Statehouse in Montpelier in March 2025. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
Vermont Lt. Gov. John Rodgers is facing a $5,000 fine from state regulators after an inspector found him growing at least 100 cannabis plants at a site in Glover where he did not have permission to do so.
The Cannabis Control Board issued Rodgers a formal notice last month that he had violated state rules dictating how and where marijuana can be grown, according to records obtained by VTDigger. Rodgers has permission to grow cannabis on a different property, but not at the one in question, according to state regulators.
Rodgers — who is currently running for reelection — is pushing back on the board’s decision and plans to formally contest it, according to records VTDigger obtained.
State regulators have set a meeting about the situation for Wednesday morning, at which they will “explore resolutions that are acceptable to (Rodgers) and the Board,” records state. The meeting is not open to the public, according to Patrick Crowley, a spokesperson for the control board.
In a statement to VTDigger Tuesday, the lieutenant governor called the situation “a routine and common administrative matter.”
“I’m working through the normal process with the CCB to get it resolved,” he wrote, adding that as lieutenant governor he has “prided myself on having one of the most open and transparent administrations in recent years.”
Rodgers has long been a vocal advocate for Vermont’s cannabis industry . He has said he grew weed on a small scale before it was legal and later set up a business in the regulated market. He’s had a license to cultivate cannabis at an address on Rodgers Road in Glover — which is named for his family — since 2023, according to regulators.
But the violation charges that Rodgers was also growing cannabis at an address about a mile away on Daniels Pond Road, even though he had not submitted the necessary documentation with the state to do so there. The latter address is also in Glover.
State rules adopted in July 2025 allow license-holders to cultivate cannabis at two “non-abutting” addresses — as regulators said Rodgers was doing — but they have to prove both sites meet certain requirements and that the sites are close by, according to the violation notice.
The violation says a state inspector visited the growing operation on Rodgers Road in October 2025. During that inspection, Rodgers said he planned to use a greenhouse located on Daniels Pond Road to cultivate cannabis plants in 2026.
In June, the agent conducted another inspection on Rodgers Road and asked to see the site on Daniels Pond Road. At the latter location, the agent “observed an unlocked greenhouse containing vegetable starts and approximately 200 cannabis seedlings.”
The property “has never been authorized as a site of cultivation activities,” the notice states, because Rodgers never formally submitted information required to cultivate cannabis at an address other than the site on Rodgers Road.
In a brief written response to regulators last month, Rodgers said that he has since moved the plants in question to the location where he has permission to grow. He declined to speak about the details of the situation on the record in an interview Tuesday.
The Aug. 13 notice came, notably, just days after Rodgers easily won this year’s Republican primary for lieutenant governor. He will face Democrat Molly Gray, who won her party’s primary, in the November general election.
Read the story on VTDigger here: State regulators say Vermont Lt. Gov. John Rodgers grew weed at unlicensed site .