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FROM THE MAGAZINE

Grow Your Own Green
Part 1: Legal Issues and Resources

BY LARRY LECHUGA

Growing your own marijuana doesn’t have to be hard – that is, with the right direction. While we can’t provide an exhaustive guide to growing your own marijuana, we can give you a useful outline of the process that just might convince you that it’s not so hard after all.

In this installment of Grow Your Own Green, I’ll discuss the legality of growing your own marijuana in California and also point you to some resources that can help guide you through the process of cultivating marijuana. In subsequent issues of Grow Your Own Green, we’ll get our hands dirty as I guide you through the basic steps you have to take to grow your first marijuana plant.

Do You Have A Doctor’s Recommendation?

Before you do anything, you’ll need a doctor’s recommendation for medical marijuana before you start to legally grow your own plants. If you’re not sure how to go about obtaining a recommendation, check out our guide located on our website: http://the420times.com/2009/09/get-the-green-how-to-get-medical-marijuana-in-california/.

The Legality Of Cultivating Marijuana In California

The short answer: To be safe, you should grow no more than six mature or twelve immature plants.

The long answer: The original law that established the right for medical cannabis patients to cultivate their own marijuana plants was Proposition 215, also known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. While Prop 215 made it legal for patients to cultivate their own plants, it didn’t establish a specific quantity limiting the number of plants that patients could grow. This vagueness caused considerable concern among anti-marijuana activists.

“Proposition 215 does not restrict the use of marijuana to AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and other serious illnesses…This initiative allows unlimited quantities of marijuana to be grown,” said James Fox, President of the California District Attorneys Association.

This perceived lack of clarity was later remedied in 2003 by Senate Bill 420 (SB 420), which stipulated that qualified medical marijuana patients could possess no more than eight ounces of marijuana and cultivate no more than six mature or twelve immature marijuana plants. While medical marijuana activists were opposed to SB 420 since it limited access to their medicine, it was not until the arrest of Patrick Kelly that SB 420’s restrictions were overturned.

Patrick Kelly was arrested in 2005 for possessing twelve ounces of marijuana and cultivating seven plants at his home in Lakewood, California. A year later, Kelly was convicted for possessing and cultivating more than the state-imposed limits as determined by SB 420. But when the case reached the Second District of California Court of Appeals in May of 2008, the Court overturned the limitations set by SB 420, declaring them unconstitutional.

“The prosecutor’s argument was improper. It was improper because the CUA [Compassionate Use Act] can only be amended with voters’ approval. Voters, however, did not approve the eight-ounce limit and other caps in section 11362.77 [of SB420]; hence, section 11362.77 unconstitutionally amends the CUA,” the Court’s decision reads.

In January of this year, the California Supreme Court affirmed this decision.

However, this doesn’t mean that medical marijuana patients are allowed to grow as many plants as they please. California NORML strongly recommends patients to continue following the guidelines established by SB 420—no more than six mature or twelve immature plants. The People v. Kelly decision merely established that patients can’t be arrested simply for exceeding the limits set by SB 420. If they are to exceed the limits, they must prove that they possess or grow an amount consistent with their personal medical needs.

Helpful Resources

Now that you know how to stay within the boundaries of the law, it would be helpful to now gather some educational resources. While we will give you an overview of how to grow your own marijuana, it’s a good idea to get a quality reference book that can cover the growing process in-depth. Such books include Marijuana Grower’s Handbook: The Indoor High Yield Guide by Ed Rosenthal, or Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower’s Bible by Jorge Cervantes.

Or, if you’re looking for a more interactive approach to learning, you can take classes at a training center such as Oaksterdam University (www.oaksterdamuniversity.com) or the Medical Cannabis Caregivers Directory (www.mccdirectory.org).

Stay Tuned…

Stay tuned for next month’s issue of Grow Your Own Green, in which I’ll begin to guide you through the process of growing your own marijuana!