New York, NY: State regulators have approved long-awaited regulations authorizing adults to home cultivate personal use quantities of cannabis.
Members of the Cannabis Control Board signed off on the rules last week. The rules must still undergo a 60-day public comment period.
New York is among the minority of adult-use legalization states that does not currently permit adults to legally grow marijuana in their homes.
The new regulations will permit an adult to grow up to six plants (no more than three mature) on private property and harvest up to five pounds of cannabis flower. (Cultivators also have the legal option of converting their flower to concentrates.) Households with multiple adults will be permitted to grow a total of six mature plants. Cultivators will be permitted to grow from seeds or they can purchase immature plants from licensed providers.
Currently, only those registered in the state’s medical cannabis access program are permitted to engage in the personal cultivation of cannabis.
State lawmakers legalized the adult-use cannabis market in March of 2021. Limited retail sales of cannabis began in December 2022.
Regulators at Friday’s meeting also approved an additional 100 new cannabis-related licensees, including commercial retailers and cultivators. Regulators have faced criticism for not licensing enough retailers to meet consumers’ demands.
A summary of New York’s cannabis legalization law is available from NORML.