New York Finally Approves Medical Marijuana Home Cultivation And It Starts Soon, Delight All Around

New York’s Cannabis Control Board (CCB) adopted regulations on Tuesday for personal medical marijuana home cultivation for card-carrying patients and caregivers...finally.

Members of the CCB and the audience applauded when the board announced the home-grow regulations, which allow medical marijuana patients to grow up to six plants. Caregivers, who can grow for a maximum of four patients, can grow up to 12 plants. Regulations also say landlords may not refuse to lease to patients, or penalize them for legally growing weed, reported various New York outlets.

The revised regulations come after a public comment period, during which the OCM amended parts of medical home-grow regulations based on feedback they received.

“Thank you again for the public comments that we received … [and] our staff here at OCM, who researched and made sure we were really putting forward well-researched thoughtful regulations,” said CCB Chair Tremaine Wright. “Everyone’s participation really made a difference.”

Non-patients can buy cannabis for recreational use from licensed dispensaries, which the state has promised will be open by the end of 2022, though these new rules allowing home cultivation provide a much more affordable option for medical marijuana patients. New York has at least 152,000 registered MMJ patients.

End Of A Rocky Road?

Medical marijuana patients and advocates had often complained that the Office of Cannabis Management was allowing New York’s MMJ program to crumble as it instead focused on setting up a recreational marketplace.

“Today’s approval of the medical home grow regulations is a monumental step forward in improving New York State’s medical cannabis program,” said Wright. “We are creating opportunities for patients across the state to access the medicine they need on their own terms, giving those individuals guided autonomy over how they choose to get their medicine, whether it be from the comfort of their own backyards or at their neighborhood medical dispensary.”

The OCM also approved conditional licenses for 19 cultivators and 10 processors.

Photo: Kindel Media by Pixabay and Quintin Gellar by Pexels