Washington State Bill Would Allow Home Cannabis Cultivation 

A bill proposed in Washington would allow personal cannabis cultivation of up to 15 plants by adults 21-and-older, MyBellinghamNow reports. The legislation would not allow home-grown cannabis to be sold or produced in homes that serve as a daycare center or foster home.

During a legislative hearing Monday, Caitlein Ryan, executive director of the Cannabis Alliance, pointed out that allowing home cannabis cultivation “is not too dissimilar from home brewing.” She added that the state is seeing declining revenues in the cannabis market and that allowing home cultivation “actually raises the market cap for regulated cannabis” and “will bring that 49% who do not participate into the market.”

Under current state law, medical cannabis patients can grow up to 15 plants, but non-patients caught cultivating their own plants face a Class C felony. The proposal includes a Class 3 civil infraction for cultivating plants that “can be readily smelled from a public place or the private property of another housing unit;” or “are visible within the ordinary public view,” according to the bill text.

Under the bill it would remain a Class C felony to cultivate even one plant over the 15-plant limit.

The proposal is currently under consideration by the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee.