About Medical Marijuana

Growing safely

(This is a guest blog by “Other Guy,” a medical cannabis patient-cultivator in California.)

Blog.  Never liked that word.  And this is my first, so please bear with me.  I will discuss the both the challenges and rewards of cultivating medicinal cannabis for yourself and other collective members.  I intend to educate cultivators, not scare those considering growing.
While I’ll discover the specifics of the subjects that will be covered later, I’d like to begin with an overview of the legal logistics involved with cultivation, as they should always be realistically considered before a putting one’s self at risk of having their home raided, dog shot, being prosecuted, and incarcerated.

In California, considered the most progressive state in regard to medical marijuana, significant protection has been established for those who smoke with the recommendation of a doctor.  Cannabis dispensaries have also become not only tolerated, but common, in certain cities within the state.  So, while those who consume the medical cannabis and the dispensaries that serve them have been subject to less and less torment by local law enforcement, there is still very little protection for members of a collective who grow cannabis for other members.  Which is supposed to be the way the medicine arrives at the collective, according to California law.  Because obviously, within a collective there will be “growing members” and “non-growing members.”

By requiring very low plant numbers and other limitations, the interpretation of medical marijuana (MMJ) cultivation by police and local courts throughout the states which have passed medical marijuana MMJ legislation has been often strict and severe.  It’s important to note that regardless if there is a case brought against a busted grower or not, the police will likely seize the plants, equipment, and money, intimidating the individual enough to not grow at that location again. In one city, growing 50 plants could mean being convicted of felonies, going to jail, having 5 years probation, and registering as a narcotics offender, even if it’s your first offense.  In another town or even local court district, the same offense may result in no prosecution.  This is very confusing, and makes gauging the amount of risk you’re taking difficult.  (Continued after the jump)

In California, some cities/counties have adopted regulations and guidelines defining how many plants, even how many square feet, a “legal” medical grow can involve. When I first started to cultivate in Oakland as a member of a cooperative in 2001, the laws were perhaps the most understanding of any large city in California at the time.  City guidelines allowed the prescribed patient to grow 144 plants (72 mature, 72 immature) as well as possess up to 6 pounds of dried flowers.  A couple years later, Oakland shied away from its burgeoning reputation as “Oaksterdam,” strictly limited/regulated the number of dispensaries allowed, and slashed the plant numbers a patient could grow to 72 total, with three pounds of processed cannabis.  Although that seems very reasonable, the city also limited the space the garden could encompass to 30 square foot.  A 3’ by 10’ area is not very large when cultivating cannabis.  Regardless of these city ordinances, Oakland has tended to prosecute medical growers far less than most cities in the state, which doesn’t mean it won’t happen there.  The point I’m making is the response of the local police, DA’s, and courts to the specifics in a case will directly affect how severely a grower, who is a contributing member to a cooperative, is handled by the law.  There are no clear rules to go by.  And it is hard to know what to expect.  Even lawyers whose specialize in representing MMJ growers won’t be able to provide definitive answers.

There is, however, California Senate Bill 420 (SB420), which, years after prop 215, provided statewide protection in law allowing patients to grow at least 6 mature and/or 12 immature plants and to possess one-half pound of dried, processed marijuana.  This law provided a protection for patients/caregivers with a minimum allowed, addressing essentially conservative law interpretation of the Proposition 215 Compassionate Use Act (CUA).  Patient advocates sought more liberal guidelines such as Sonoma County’s, which allow up to 99 plants in a 100-square-foot growing area plus 3 pounds of marijuana.  Then, to make things even more confusing, the California District Three Second Appellate Court ruled that the plant and processed product limits implemented by California Senate Bill 420 were an unconstitutional modification to California’s Proposition 215 CUA. The CUA does not quantify the marijuana a patient may possess.  This was considered a victory against those who tried to use SB 420 to limit grows and possession to the mentioned “minimums.”  Huh?  Yeah it’s that confusing…

So it’s important for the patient who is a member of a collective and contributes medicine to their collective to have a general sense of the range of possible legal consequences within your city and court district could be, as your medical growing of cannabis will likely be viewed by the police and courts as illegal cultivation and distribution of marijuana.  Once you have this info, you can decide how much risk you’re willing to assume if the medical defense doesn’t work for the respective garden you’re growing.  And, frankly, you may want to move somewhere else.  Another state, county, or city, or even a different part of a city.  Just make sure it’s not near a school, playground, church, ect.

The number of plants will likely be the largest determining factor in the amount of trouble the law will throw at you.  That is, only if you are wise enough to never have any of these items at a grow house, or anywhere else that the law enforcement officer (LEO) could find it on your possession:  weigh scales, money, lists of names and amounts paid/owed, grow calendars, receipts from hydroponics stores, other illegal drugs/substances, spliced electrical lines, and most of all, FIREARMS!  This is all bad evidence and WILL complicate a case badly.  Particularly, if you have a gun there, expect to go to jail.

So…  Some growers have 30 plants per 1000 watt light in flowing cycle, some may have 4.  I have done very well with as few only 1 plant per 1000 watt light.  With legal considerations in mind, you can see how this is of importance when a grower plans how many plants to cultivate, and what system, regardless hydroponic or soil, to implement in their garden.

Lower plant numbers does mean less legal risk, but there are specifics to this statement that must be understood.  For example, the difference between 999 plants and 1000 plants is huge if it ends up becoming a federal cultivation case.  The minimum sentence served would change from 2 years to 5 years.  Big difference.  I will cover this in detail later.  Outside of plant numbers, risk can be mitigated by the following: implementing careful practices and habits in the operation of a garden and carefully choosing the people you associate with inside and outside of a collective, growing in a location that is unlikely to be located, and growing in an area where the punishment is less severe.  Again, in a future blog I will explain more.

If you’ve managed to read all of this so far, that’s good, cause this stuff is only boring when it’s not happening to you.  And it happening is always possible.  Avoid being blindsided with harsh consenquences by having solid information pertaining to your operation.

So lets say you’re in a very conservative area in California.  Or perhaps you need minimal risk due to personal circumstances…  Such as family or prior offenses…  Maybe you’re in a liberal area and want to grow something which will be relatively bullet-proof should it reach the courts, whether it be by your ex reporting you, someone rolling over on the telephone’s 911 button after a few drinks, or any other random act of god…  These can included fire, flood, power outages, home invasion, a snoopy neighbor, I’m sure you get the point.  Few growers are in complete control of what can randomly occur.  If you have any of the aforementioned concerns, there are options that lower plant numbers within a garden and, if implemented correctly, can alleviate some of the inherent legal risk of cultivation.

Tags: cultivation, growing, local guidelines, Oakland