As cannabis reform has spread across the United States, it has given birth to a marketplace increasingly driven by business interests. This is the fourth installment in our series looking at how the changing landscape of cannabis policy affects a key group of often-overlooked stakeholders: medical marijuana patients who choose to cultivate their own supply of medicine. Goherefor the home grown laws in Washington and Oregon,herefor the home grown laws in California and Alaska,herefor the home grown laws in Michigan and Illinois, andherefor the laws in New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont, and here for the laws in Hawaii, Nevada, and New Mexico. Though there are undeniably many benefits to the expansion and professionalization of the commercial cannabis industry, it is also important to account for these small-scale medical marijuana producers that started it all.
This week we look at the laws governing home cultivation of cannabis in Colorado and Montana. These states laws largely track the home grown rules of other states and underscore how home-grown laws can lag behind general cannabis reform.
Colorado. In 2000, Colorado voters approved Amendment 20, which established a medical marijuana program in the state for qualified patients. In 2012, Colorado then became the first state to legalize recreational possession and consumption of cannabis. Colorados medical marijuana program permits home cultivation in a way similar to many states that have not authorized recreational legalization, however. Under current state law, a medical marijuana patient or primary caregiver who possesses a Medical Marijuana Registry identification card can possess two ounces of usable marijuana and six cannabis plants (three of which may be flowering at the time). Patients who possess more than the allotted amount available to them have an affirmative defense of medical necessity if arrested for possessing a larger amount prescribed by their physician. Cannabis plants must be enclosed within locked premises that are not visible to the public. The rules vary somewhat for households that do and do not have minor residents, the underlying policy being to protecting minor ...
