A renewed effort in Washington state to allow adults to grow marijuana at home had its first hearing in Olympia last week, with a House committee considering a bill that would allow individuals to grow up to six cannabis plants for personal use.
A committee vote on the proposal could take place as early as Friday.
Although Washington was one of the first states in the country to legalize commercial marijuana, growing the plant at home for recreational use remains a crime. Lawmakers have repeatedly rejected previous proposals for personal cultivation in the years since voters passed a 2012 legalization initiative, citing barriers to enforcement and a concern that home-grown cannabis would be sold on the illicit market.
If last Friday’s hearing is any indication, however, this year may be different. Public testimony about the new home grown bill, HB 1019, was relatively unobtrusive, and most questions from lawmakers focused on small details, such as comparing home grown to home brewing and whether Owners should be able to ban factories in rental units.
“I was surprised at how reasonable this was,” John Kingsbury, co-founder of advocacy group Homegrow Washington, told Marijuana Moment by email after the hearing. “It’s not always like that. In fact, it has never been this good before. “
The bill, HB 1019, is currently on the House Games and Commerce Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Shelley Kloba (D), who is also the main sponsor of the proposed domestic cultivation. During an executive session later this week, lawmakers were able to vote to move the legislation forward.
“This is a project that we saw a few times before on this committee,” said Kloba at the recent public hearing, noting that the impetus for policy change only grew as indoor cultivation became “a fairly normal part” of marijuana legalization in other states. “Prohibiting domestic cultivation is an outdated policy and it is time for us to evolve in this space.”
This point was echoed by advocates of home cultivation, who noted that almost every other US state that has legalized marijuana for adults allows home cultivation. Washington, by contrast, allows only registered medical marijuana patients to grow their own cannabis.
“This project is well aligned with the trend in other states, stressing that we are not in front of this issue, but are coming into harmony with other legal states,” testified Lara Kaminsky, government affairs representative for The Cannabis Alliance, an industry advocate group.
The only other state with legal cannabis sales that prohibits domestic cultivation is Illinois, where the crime is treated as a civil offense, rather than a crime. New Jersey, which legalized marijuana in the November election but has yet to launch legal sales, will also make domestic cultivation illegal under implementing legislation at Governor Phil Murphy (D) ‘s desk.
Washington activists initially excluded domestic cultivation from their 2012 initiative because they feared the policy would not be adopted by voters. Up to that point, no other state had legalized marijuana for adult use.
Lawmakers also expressed concerns that allowing people to grow their own marijuana at home could reduce state tax revenue from commercial cannabis sales or divert the locally grown product to the illegal market. But successful domestic farming policies in other states, advocates say, have shown that these fears are overblown.
“What is being proposed here would not be a bold new experiment, but a well-used path,” said Kingsbury. “Crime has not exploded in states that allow for domestic growth and tax revenues have not suffered.”
According to the new legislation, domestic producers can be charged with civil infraction if the odors of their plants cause a public nuisance or if the plants can be seen on public properties. These provisions, which were not included in Washington’s earlier domestic farming bills, are intended to provide resources for neighbors and prevent plants from being stolen.
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Stanley Garnett, a former Colorado district attorney who now works at the Brownstein cannabis law firm Hyatt Farber Schreck, called HB 1019 a “prudent and thoughtful” bill.
“I think the possibility of problems arising from the point of view of law enforcement is very limited,” testified the former prosecutor.
But some Washington police officers are still skeptical. James McMahan, policy director for the Washington Police Chiefs and Sheriffs Association, said the group’s members are concerned that the domestic cultivation law is difficult to enforce and could expose children to marijuana. He said the proposal “is inconsistent and contrary to the reasons why we believe voters have enacted Initiative 502,” the state legalization law.
“We want to warn everyone about their expectations regarding our ability to do this,” McMahan told lawmakers about the application of the proposal. “Many of the restrictions and limitations in this bill are things that would only be known if our officers were inside the house.”
For example, the police would not know if residents were growing beyond the permitted limit, unless they obtained a warrant to enter and search the property, said McMahan, “which we think will be quite rare”.
Defenders pointed out that it is already standard practice in law enforcement to seek a warrant if the police have reasonable grounds for believing that a person is breaking the law. “This is the system we have for other concerns about illegal activities,” said Kingsbury, “and that system seems to be working well.”
State Representative Melanie Morgan (D) also opposed McMahan’s claim that HB 1019 would expose more children to marijuana. “We allow drinking at home. Smoking is allowed in the house. We allow home brewing at home, among other things, ”she said. “I understand that you have your security concerns, because that’s your job, but I prefer – rather than saying it’s not a good thing – for us to collaborate together.”
Morgan also contested a clause in the current bill that would allow homeowners to prohibit tenants from growing marijuana on rental properties. “We are launching this,” she said, “but it is starting to be unfair because not everyone will be able to participate.”
In the meantime, drug policy reformers are closely watching the expected introduction of a measure that would decriminalize the possession of all drugs. The measure is expected to be released later this week.
New York, Virginia and other states consider new drug decriminalization projects
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