New Yorkers will soon have the legal right to cultivate adult-use marijuana at home under the 2021 legalization legislation.
While the vote to kickstart the process of regulating home growing was initially scheduled for Wednesday, the Cannabis Control Board has postponed the proceedings to likely February’s meeting.
Nevertheless, New York regulators have released a preview of the proposed regulations.
These regulations, designed for adults growing marijuana at home, will undergo formal consideration by the state’s regulators upon approval.
Under the proposed regulations, individuals aged 21 and above in New York can grow up to six marijuana plants for personal use. This total can consist of three mature and three immature plants. Nevertheless, households are subjected to a maximum limit of twelve plants (six mature and six immature plants). It’s noteworthy that an individual is restricted from growing marijuana in only one location and is not authorized to have plants in multiple places.
Individuals growing marijuana at home can possess up to five pounds of trimmed flowers from their homegrown plants, although the legal limit for carrying marijuana is capped at three ounces.
Plants grown at home must be kept in a secure, non-public location inaccessible to those under 21. Notably, landlords can’t forbid marijuana growing but can enforce odor mitigation policies in their buildings.
However, growing marijuana at home won’t be allowed for those residing in federal property or federally subsidized housing due to marijuana’s federal illegality.
While selling homegrown marijuana is forbidden, individuals may have the option to share or gift it.
If the CCB approves the proposed regulations, there will be a 60-day window for public commentary before the regulations are officially finalized.
The proposed regulations come more than a year after adult-use retail marijuana sales began in New York in late December 2022 when Housing Works Cannabis Co became the first dispensary in the state to sell adult-use marijuana.
While New York legalized adult-use marijuana through the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act in March 2021, the implementation of the legislation for the creation of the legal market was subjected to several challenges and delays.
According to the legislation, the right to grow marijuana at home was supposed to be allowed only following the approval of the regulations, which will occur within 18 months of the first adult-use retail sale. Therefore, the final regulations for home growing are expected to be in place by the middle of this year, barring any delays.
Meanwhile, home growing became legal for certified medical marijuana patients and designated caregivers in October 2022.
The decision to delay the regulations for growing marijuana at home aimed to prevent an excessive spread of marijuana, safeguarding the success of recently established legal retail stores.
As part of the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) program, the first legal stores are granted licenses to individuals and nonprofits affected by cannabis prohibition policies before state legalization. The aim of the marijuana legislation is, indeed, focused on social equity, prioritizing those harmed by the war on drugs before legalization.
However, while New York’s marijuana regulators worked on implementing legislation and finalizing rules for cultivators, processors, and retailers in the legal adult-use market, numerous unlicensed businesses proliferated across the state, engaging in the illegal sale of adult-use marijuana.
This situation has created a gray market, with thousands of unlicensed operators taking on the role originally intended for licensed dispensaries, especially those associated with the social equity program.