You can buy produce at the market, or you can grow vegetables in your own garden. You can buy beer at the market, or you can brew your own at home. For the past decade, you've been able to buy cannabis at dispensaries, but in Washington you haven't been able to grow your own at home.
A bill making its way through the State Legislature would change that. House Bill 1614 would legalize home cultivation of cannabis within the state. The 23-page long bill gets into the weeds of rules and regulations, but the main thrust of the bill is that persons 21 and over would be allowed to grow up to six plants per person, with a limit of 15 plants per housing unit.
Rep. Timm Ormsby, a Spokane Democrat, is one of the bill's nine sponsors. Last week, HB 1614 took one of the first steps to becoming law when it was approved by the House Committee on Regulated Substances & Gaming, and sent to the House Appropriations Committee.
Washington is one of just three states, along with New Jersey and Illinois, where recreational cannabis is legal but home cultivation is not, according to Marijuana Moment. Under current state law, possession of cannabis obtained outside of the legal market, which includes cannabis grown within the home, is punishable as a class C felony.
HB 1614 would change the law by allowing for limited home cultivation of cannabis while also establishing some guide rails for the practice. Plants must be grown out of the public view, and their scent can not be easily smelled from another housing unit or a public area. Growers will be required to take records far beyond normal gardening practice of simply labeling the kind of plant being grown. Date of planting, date of harvest and the contact information for the grower must be listed with the plants. Landlords and property managers will have the ability to prohibit cannabis cultivation in their properties should they choose.
There will also be a possession limit of 16 ounces of usable cannabis at one time, regardless of source. If you've harvested 16 ounces of home grown cannabis, it would be illegal to buy an extra ounce from a dispensary.
If passed, the law will take effect 90 days after the end of the current legislative session. ♦
