Why Everyone Should Be Allowed to Grow Marijuana
Do You Have a Constitutional Right to Grow Your Own Marijuana? from CannabisNet on Vimeo.
Come this November, 1 in 4 adults in the US could be living in a “Marijuana-Friendly” state depending on what happens on the ballots in the several states that have legalization bills on the table. Every State has its own unique approach to legalization and will have different dynamics in place. Some States will mimic the system implemented by Colorado which is, in my opinion, one of the best systems available. Other States will mimic the policies implemented in Washington, which in my opinion is one of the worst systems in place.
In Colorado, if you are 21 and up, you have the right to grow up to six plants for personal consumption and more if you are doing it for medical purposes or growing for other people. This clause doesn’t interrupt the legalized market and gives individuals the freedom to produce their own medicine or recreational substances without the fear of being thrown into jail.
Washington on the other hand created a system that doesn’t permit adults to grow their own, unless they have a medical marijuana license. They also tax cannabis on every available checkpoint, from cultivation, production and sale…taxes are involved.
This in turn created a grey market that is undermining the legal cannabis system that is currently in place in Washington. This is due to the price tag that is associated with “legal marijuana” bought in dispensaries. Many of my friends living in Washington prefer to buy their cannabis from medical growers “under the table” which is a rational reaction to hiked up prices. In other words, Washington has failed to eradicated the “black” and “grey markets”.
Why allowing adults to grow is a great idea
The first reason why I believe that every adult should be able to grow their own cannabis at home comes down to “freedom”. Cannabis is a plant. Sure it’s psychoactive when you apply heat to the end product and will get you high, but it still is just a plant.
In the infamous words of the prophet Bill Hicks, “Don’t you think that making something natural illegal is…. unnatural?” (paraphrased) There are other plants out there, that grow freely in every garden in the United States that can actually kill you. From Oleanders, White Hemlocks and Daffodils, these plants can easily kill a human or make them extremely ill. Yet, we have no laws against these flowers.
If safety was our concern and was the alleged main motivator behind drug prohibition, shouldn’t we be banning plants that can actually be lethal to people? Yet you can see these plants in virtually every garden in the United States and the world.
Cannabis will not kill you and eating the raw leaf is actually very good for you (just ask my Cat “Monkey”). Every adult should have the right to grow this medicinal plant without the fear of going to prison mainly because it should be your natural right to grow this plant.
Secondly, I believe that people should have the right to grow cannabis without the fear of persecution for its medical benefits. Some patients require large sums of cannabis to treat their conditions and forcing them to buy all their “medicine” from an external source is ludicrous. If you have the ability to grow your own, you should have the freedom to choose to grow your own.
Apart from all the medical benefits provided by cannabis, the actual act of growing it is also very therapeutic. Watching your plants mature and caring for it every step of the way ensures that when you harvest, you will know exactly what went into the plant and this is key for people relying on cannabis for their medical issues.
Will growing disrupt the legal market?
As we have seen in Colorado, growing your own will not affect the legal market. While some people will definitely want to grow their own, they fall into the minority of cannabis consumers. People have the ability to grow their own tomatoes, but ask yourself, how many people actually grow their own tomatoes? It’s much simpler to walk into a store and just buy it. Within the cannabis community, the same is true.
Either way, everybody should have the legal right to grow their own cannabis regardless of their motivation. It works in Colorado, why not everywhere else?
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