Why do states allow legal weed but not home-grown?

Of the 42 states and territories that have legalized recreational or medicinal cannabis as of now, only 26 allow people to grow their own weed at home. Two of these states, Washington and Illinois, have recreational markets but only allow home growing if you have a health insurance card, and one of them, New Jersey, has recreational weed but doesn’t allow anyone to grow their own – not even medical patients.

In addition, violating home-grown laws carries the harshest penalties and the heaviest fines compared to violating laws regarding the possession or use of cannabis. Many state legislatures seem to equate home growing to distribution rather than personal use, an archaic idea left over from the illegal era.

Many states that legalize cannabis seem fine with cannabis as long as they can regulate production and distribution and keep ownership to a minimum, but once people are allowed to produce it themselves, state officials get nervous. Even in states that have legalized some form of weed, the stigma of allowing individuals to grow a few plants for themselves remains stigmatized.

Growing your own does not mean distributing

In many states, penalties for growing weed, even in small quantities, are the same or similar to those for making or distributing hard drugs such as cocaine, meth, or heroin. These substances, like cannabis, are classified as Category I drugs and many legislators are grouping them all together.

“There is still a misunderstanding among many policy makers that small-scale home-growing cannabis fuels the illegal market,” Matthew Schweich, associate director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said in an email statement. “The reality is that cannabis is difficult to grow and a person who grows six to twelve plants at home has a negligible impact on the supply of cannabis in a state.”

Starting with the Compassionate Care Act, passed in California in 1996, home-growing initially allowed medical marijuana patients to produce their own supplies, rather than to fuel the illegal market. At that time there were only a few pharmacies. Even now, some medical patients require large quantities of cannabis for their illness or cannot travel to pharmacies because of their illness. Allowing them to grow their own will give them opportunities to save money, obtain medication, and manage their conditions.

A recent survey by New Frontier Data found that home growers have many reasons to grow their own, including convenience, low cost, better quality, growing hard-to-find strains, and a desire to enjoy cannabis without pesticides or other contaminants. Overwhelming, 70% of respondents said they just enjoy doing it.

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Hard laws for home growing

The misunderstanding of “home growing equals distribution” has resulted in severe penalties in some states. To get a feel for how harsh the penalties for growing yourself, check out these laws.

In Kansas, one of the few remaining US states with an outright ban, growing just five cannabis plants can result in a crime convicted of up to seven years in prison and a maximum fine of $ 300,000.

Connecticut, a medical state legalized for adult use earlier this year, treats growing more than one kilogram – 2.2 lbs – as a crime, with a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to 25,000 U.S. dollar. Additional convictions can result in a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and fines of up to $ 100,000.

In Washington state, growing cannabis without a health certificate is a criminal offense that can result in a prison sentence of up to five years and / or a fine of up to $ 10,000. That is a real punishment for growing a single plant in a recovery state.

New Jersey lawmakers are currently trying to add a homegrown bill to the November 2020 voters for the Recreational Cannabis Bill. Currently, home-growing is not even legal for medical patients. If you’re caught growing between an ounce and five pounds of cannabis in New Jersey, you can face 3-5 years in prison and a fine of $ 25,000.

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Taxes and Land Use

New Jersey passed a medical marijuana bill in 2010 without a home-growing permit, and state lawmakers passed a legalization bill in 2021, also with no provision that would allow home-growing. State Senator Vin Gopal has tabled a bill allowing adults to grow 6 plants per person and 12 per household, and medical patients to grow 10 plants. The bill seems to be picking up momentum, but it’s not a surefire thing.

One of the major obstacles to home growing in New Jersey is that many lawmakers have no understanding of cannabis and how to grow it. Chris Goldstein, NORML Regional Organizer, has campaigned for weed legalization in New Jersey for more than two decades. He’s heard it all: fears that home growers are using all of the state’s electricity, that growers are burning down buildings by using too many grow lights, and that everyone in the densely populated state will start growing their own weed – really, a gardening state .

But the real political problems of the home-growing blockade come to light when one follows the money. Goldstein said many lawmakers and corporations “carefully covet their future marijuana taxes” as a percentage of sales to the state and social programs decline.

In addition, the state has some powerful lobbyists from sectors that are believed not to care about home gardening at all. “There is a very powerful real estate and insurance sector in New Jersey, and these guys have been reluctant to grow their own because they would have to change all of their existing rules, regulations and insurance coverage to adapt,” Goldstein said. “They are a powerful lobby among lawmakers, and when they suddenly become a little reluctant, things slow down.”

Large multi-state operators also bear some of the blame. Some cannabis producers are already based in neighboring states or medical markets, and officials of some companies believe that illegally cultivating their own cannabis could allow them to establish a near monopoly on cannabis production in the Garden State.

Children don’t eat raw cannabis

Another surprisingly widespread fear among politicians is that unsuspecting children will get caught up in a neighbor’s crop, eat, and get high. That argument became all too clear after Canada legalized recreational grass in 2018 and the province of Quebec soon banned home-growing.

Before the bill was passed in 2017, Quebec Health Secretary Lucie Charlebois voiced her disapproval of home growing on a popular Canadian talk show and in an interview on Vice, arguing that “children will be the neighbour’s crop”.

This is utter nonsense. Getting high from consuming raw cannabis plants is a physical impossibility. Cannabis plant material must be heated in order to have a psychoactive experience, a process known as decarboxylation. Raw weed contains THCA, which won’t get you high. Heating by smoking, vaporizing, or in an oven when making cannabutter will decarboxylate the plant matter and convert THCA to THC, which will get you high. Eating raw grass from a plant is likely to cause stomach ache. It won’t get anyone high.

This argument also fails to recognize that home-growing laws often contain provisions that cannabis must be grown out of sight of neighbors and / or behind closed doors.

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Virginia allows home growing but no retail sales

An exception to state reluctance to allow home-growing is Virginia, which allows adults to grow their own cannabis while the state enacts a regulatory framework for the retail sale of marijuana.

In February 2021, Virginia lawmakers voted to legalize recreational cannabis but banned retail sales until 2024. Subsequently, amendments to the bill were passed to allow cultivation and limited possession in the interim to reduce cannabis arrests and to allow some access to the plant. Virginians can now grow up to four plants for personal use.

Sourcing seeds and seedlings to grow your own plants is still a minor gray area in Virginia as buying or bringing seeds across state lines is still illegal. But Virginia’s approach to home-growing while establishing a legal market and beyond is one that other states could learn a lesson from.

Pat Goggins

Pat Goggins is an editor at Leafly, specializing in growing cannabis after working for a commercial breeder in Oregon for two years. Unless you’re correcting typos, you can likely find it on a boat or in the mountains.

View article by Pat Goggins

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