Fentanyl-laced marijuana

Brian Waters filed this request with the Vermont State Police of Vermont.

It is a clone of this request.

Submitted May 2, 2022
Status
Rejected
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Communications

From: Brian Waters

Subject: Vermont Public Records Act Request: Fentanyl-laced marijuana

Mail

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Vermont Public Records Act, I hereby request records relating to fentanyl-laced marijuana in Vermont. Specifically, I am requesting any bulletins, reports, or other communications, sent to your agency by any other agency in the last six months, which deals with the topic of fentanyl-laced marijuana. Agencies likely to have sent such a bulletin include: the Brattleboro Police Department, the Vermont State Police, Connecticut State Police, DEA or DEA New England, DHS, and various "Fusion Centers," including the Vermont Intelligence Center (VIC), New Hampshire Information and Analysis Center (NHIAC), Connecticut Intelligence Center (CTIC), and other Fusion Centers and police agency in the area, including in Massachusetts.

For reference, media reports began appearing in November 2021 regarding fentanyl-laced marijuana in Vermont. Here is one such report: https://www.reformer.com/local-news/brattleboro-police-warn-of-fentanyl-laced-weed/article_379302aa-4b9f-11ec-a179-b3d8b1403247.html

To summarize, I am looking for any recent reports warning about fentanyl-laced marijuana, especially from the New England area; the above list of agencies is not meant to be exhaustive, but may help you in your search.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes. In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not. Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 3 business days, as the statute requires.

Thank you,
Brian Waters

From: Vermont State Police

Subject: PRA Request - Fentanyl-laced Marijuana

Email

July 7, 2023

Muckrock News
Email: requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>

To Whom it May Concern,

I am writing regarding your Public Records Act request seeking: "records relating to fentanyl-laced marijuana in Vermont. Specifically, I am requesting any bulletins, reports, or other communications, sent to your agency by any other agency in the last six months, which deals with the topic of fentanyl-laced marijuana. Agencies likely to have sent such a bulletin include: the Brattleboro Police Department, the Vermont State Police, Connecticut State Police, DEA or DEA New England, DHS, and various "Fusion Centers," including the Vermont Intelligence Center (VIC), New Hampshire Information and Analysis Center (NHIAC), Connecticut Intelligence Center (CTIC), and other Fusion Centers and police agency in the area, including in Massachusetts."

The records we have identified as falling within the scope of your request are "[r]ecords dealing with the detection and investigation of crime." See 1 V.S.A. § 317(c)(5). Specifically, these records have been shared with the State of Vermont by the Drug Enforcement Agency and Department of Homeland Security to facilitate cross agency coordination in law enforcement.

The Records associated with this request have been labeled as "Law Enforcement Sensitive" by the Department of Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Agency, "the release of which could reveal techniques and/or procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions which could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law." Gonzalez v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, 475 F.Supp.3d 334, 351 (S.D. New York 2020). Further, federal law exempts release of records acquired by a State government from the Department of Homeland Security through state public records laws. See 6 U.S.C. § 482(e).

In addition, these records are also exempt from release pursuant to the following provisions of 1 V.S.A. § 317(c):

1 V.S.A. § 317(c)(5)(A)(v) relating to law enforcement records that "would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecution if such disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law," See Gonzalez v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, 475 F.Supp.3d 334, 351 (S.D. New York 2020); and

1 V.S.A. § 317(c)(25) relating to "security procedures," See Government Accountability Project v. Central Intelligence Agency, 548 F.Supp.3d 140 (D.D.C. 2021); Levinthal v. Federal Election Commission, 219 F.Supp.3d 1 (D.D.C. 2016).

As a result of the statutory limitations on the State of Vermont's ability to disseminate these records, please request these records directly from the relevant federal law enforcement agencies. The Department now considers your request closed. Thank you for your inquiry.

Kind Regards,

Sam Weaver
Public Records Act Specialist
Vermont Department of Public Safety

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