Why Is It Time to End the Ban on Home Cannabis Cultivation in the United States?

Lana Braslavska
Lana Braslavska

A key author at AskGrowers, Lana Braslavska, specializes in presenting the latest news and trends within the cannabis industry. Her articles often highlight influential personalities and delve into their impact on the cannabis world. Her writing not only keeps readers informed about current events and key figures in the cannabis space but also provides a deeper understanding of the industry's relationship with public perception and media representation. Lana's expertise makes her an invaluable resource for anyone seeking education on the evolving landscape of the cannabis industry.

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Why Is It Time to End the Ban on Home Cannabis Cultivation in the United States?

Cannabis has been grown and used by human beings since at least 3,000 BC, which serves to say that pot is a very beneficial and useful plant. However, to this day, home cultivation remains illegal in most U.S. states. For weed advocates, the ongoing ban against home cultivation is unfair and unethical, especially since growing the plant is 100% eco-friendly.

Not only does the ban interfere with the development of a booming multi-billion dollar industry, but people are often uneducated and uninformed about marijuana cultivation and at-home usage, leading to the unfair stigmatization of marijuana users everywhere.

Below, we break down the top reasons why it's time to end the ban on the cultivation of cannabis at home in the United States and to make our country that much more green-friendly!

Why Is At-Home Cannabis Cultivation Illegal?

The problem of disallowing home cultivation in the United States is multi-layered. AskGrowers advocates the adoption of regulatory laws and the creation of bodies that will control domestic cultivation on U.S. soil. But as it stands, there are only 36 states and 4 U.S. territories where comprehensive medical and recreational marijuana programs have been made available.

To understand why it's time to end the ban on home-growing, let's start by looking at the reasons why state governments are hesitant to enact new cannabis legislation surrounding domestic cultivation.


Read Also: Guide On Cannabis Growers: Who They Are And How To Become A Cultivator


The Fear of Losing Tax Revenue

In states where medical and recreational cannabis have been legalized, the taxes generated on the sale of cannabis are used to fund educational, medical, and social programs with billions of dollars. In fact, taxes on marijuana products are several times higher than taxes on alcohol and sometimes even than taxes on businesses, making cannabis sales an extremely lucrative industry for state governments.

Take a look at the chart below, and you'll see that there's been an overall 622% increase in revenue generated by marijuana excise taxes between 2015 and 2020.

Comparison of general government tax collection and taxes on cannabis sales in Washington in 2015-2020

One of the best examples of a pointless and unethical ban on home cultivation is the state of Washington, which, in 2012, adopted the 502 Initiative. The 502 Initiative legalized the use of marijuana products for adults over the age of 21, taxed them, and designated the revenue primarily for healthcare and substance-abuse prevention programs in the state.

However, under federal law, marijuana products are still considered as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, meaning that the home cultivation of marijuana still remains illegal.

The 2012 Washington Marijuana Initiative did not initially include a provision on home growing because its sponsors believed that forcing consumers to buy cannabis products through taxed and regulated dispensaries would make the measure more acceptable to voters.

Today, however, the state government fears losing out on large amounts of tax revenue, which they believe will be the case if home cultivation is legalized and official sales begin to decline. This is the first and most unreasonable reason for the delay in approving laws on domestic cannabis cultivation.

The Fear of Black Market Activity

The second reason why home cultivation is still illegal in most states is that police and other law enforcement agencies maintain the unfounded fear that home cultivation will spur black market sales and will make home-grows attractive targets for criminals.

James McMahan of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police said: "Our members, candidly, are not comfortable with the public safety aspects and public safety concerns associated with allowing marijuana home-grows".

However, the idea that home cultivation will fuel illicit sales and increase crime in neighborhoods everywhere is largely unfounded.

State Representative Shelley Kloba said, "many of the fears associated with allowing home growing — that it would fuel illegal activity, or create neighborhoods that constantly reek of weed — haven't come to pass in other states."

Shelley Kloba Quote

She also said, "As one of the first states to legalize cannabis, I understand that some trade-offs were made to garner support for the initiative. Now that the industry has matured, and the public has experienced legalized cannabis in practice rather [than] just in theory, it seems as though prohibiting homegrow is an antiquated policy."

The fear of increased illicit activity is reasonable in itself, especially since many states are only just beginning to tread into this new and uncharted territory. But it's been over 8 years since the 502 Initiative was passed in Washington and Colorado. And still, there are no signs of increased crime rates due to the legalization or use of marijuana.

In fact, one study found no statistical long-term effects on either violent or property crime in either state, suggesting that the legalization and sale of marijuana has had little if any effect on major crimes in these states.

The Fear of Impacting the Health and Well-Being of Young People

Another major concern for the trepidation to allow home cultivation in the U.S. is the belief that it will negatively impact the health and well-being of young people.

This concern has been echoed by proponents of substance abuse prevention in Washington and elsewhere, especially as the bill states that the State Council on Liquor and Cannabis has no authority to enforce regulations applicable to home marijuana cultivation.

In other words, state governments have the idea that home cultivation initiatives will allow large-scale cannabis grow-houses to move into residential neighborhoods, exposing youth, and having a negative impact on both their physical and mental well-being, which is purely wrong and completely unfounded.

John Kingsbury, the co-founder of Homegrow Washington, answered that: "Many of the concerns people have about home growing seem to have more to do with large-scale cannabis operations. We're not talking about that. We are actually advocating legalizing non-profit personal plots of six plants".

John Kingsbury Quote

The fact is that governments have no issue with legalizing at-home use of other controlled substances like alcohol or tobacco, so long as provisions are made to protect young people from unlawful exposure, illegal sales, and unethical marketing surrounding these products.

So why is it that home cultivation of marijuana is thought of differently than alcohol and tobacco, especially when studies show that weed use has fewer risks than alcohol use?

Why Are These Fears Wholly Unfounded?

The fear of losing revenue, increasing black market activity, and it having a negative impact on youth are legitimate concerns. However, they are largely unfounded.

For starters, while it may cause a slight decline in official state sales, it's important to understand that the permission to grow cannabis at home does not mean that people will instantly start buying LED lamps, soil, and all the seeds in the state to start growing plants at home. Growing cannabis, especially a good quality flower, takes time, money and effort. Therefore, most people will not bother themselves with home cultivation and will simply continue to buy their favorite products from state-sanctioned dispensaries.

Growing Cannabis Difficulties

Secondly, there's also no proof that there's any increased crime due to legal marijuana use in either Washington or Colorado. Following legalization, there was briefly a very slight increase in property crime (both states) and aggravated assaults (Washington). But studies found this was not a permanent shift and was by no means directly correlated to marijuana sales or home cultivation.

Lastly, there are legitimate concerns that home cultivation could have a negative impact on the health and well-being of young people. However, similar to legislation governing the sales, possession and use of alcohol and tobacco products, provisions are being made in Washington and elsewhere to address these concerns.

For instance, similar to alcohol, individuals must be 21 years of age or older to buy or possess marijuana in the state of Washington.

Additionally, new provisional measures, such as Bill HB 1019, are currently being discussed in the state of Washington, which will:

  • Create a new civil offense for anyone who grows marijuana in full view of the public or whose marijuana production can be "easily smelled" by neighbors or passers-by. These offenses may incur a $ 50 fine, but will not result in a criminal record.
  • The cultivation of marijuana in homes that provide daycare for foster children will also be prohibited.
  • As before, selling homemade cannabis to another person will be prohibited.
  • And landlords will be able to prohibit tenants from growing marijuana on their property if they so choose.

Boosting the National Economy

Moreover, Timothy Nadreau, a research economist at the University of Washington, has done an interesting study on how allowing marijuana to grow at home will affect the state's income.

He concluded that cannabis tax collections would continue to rise in Washington state regardless of home cultivation. And if HB 1019 (Home Growing Law) is passed, it could generate additional tax revenue as it could increase people's interest in cannabis products.

Aside from that, home cultivation spurs an entirely new industry, where revenue will be generated by the sales of LED lamps, home-grow kits, seeds, fertilizers, and more!

Recreational retail cannabis sales by state and year

Finally, the above graph shows that Washington lags behind Colorado in terms of sales, where domestic cultivation of cannabis is allowed. In other words, home cultivation has little, if any, effect on official state sales and cannot be used as a valid reason to continue with the unfair and unethical ban.

The Time to Decriminalize Home Cultivation Is Now!

It's also good to note that, since legalization in these states, the stigmatization of cannabis has significantly decreased. But despite any sort of valid reason, home cultivation, within the norm set by the state, still causes heated debate and resistance. This is seen even in veteran states of cannabis legalization like Washington, where cannabis culture has become the norm.

On that note, we would like to end with the words of Lara Kaminsky, Co-Founder of the Cannabis Alliance:

"Allowing the consumer to grow marijuana will actually benefit the cannabis industry. In the current state of affairs, many customers simply choose whatever is the cheapest product with the highest levels of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana.

According to Kaminsky, "If home growing is allowed to flourish, the consumer will be more discerning, will ask more precise questions and will look for products that have more qualities than just the number on the package."

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