New York Regulators to Consider Allowing Cannabis Home Grows

New York cannabis regulators are set to consider new regulations this week that would allow for the home cultivation of cannabis plants by adults aged 21 or older, the Times Union reports. The rule change would also authorize licensed retailers to sell starter cannabis plants, although they would need to acquire a nursery dealer registration certificate from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

The right to cannabis home grows was actually established under the legalization law passed by New York lawmakers in 2021, but only following the approval of “regulations governing home cultivation of cannabis, which will occur within 18 months of the first adult-use retail sale” — and New York’s first legal sale took place in December 2022, the report said.

Under the proposed rules, each private residence in the state will be allowed to host up to 12 cannabis plants, including six mature and six immature plants, regardless of the number of adults living there. Additionally, personal possession rates would be increased to up to five pounds of “cannabis flower that has been trimmed from plants, which have been cultivated in or on the grounds of said person’s private residence.”

While New York formally legalized cannabis about three years ago, state officials opted to delay the home grow rules to give licensed retailers a headstart in the industry. Most of the state’s early cannabis retailers, however, have faced enormous difficulties including competition from unlicensed and illegal retailers and lengthy delays in the licensing process, which was temporarily halted by lawsuits against the state’s cannabis social equity provisions.