NY Plans to Let You Grow 5lbs of Weed at Home

New Yorkers will finally be able to grow their own thanks to new ordinances set for a vote by the state’s Cannabis Control Board. If the proposed regulations are finalized, state residents will be allowed to cultivate up to 12 cannabis plants and keep 5 pounds of self-produced cannabis flower in their shoebox apartments. You won’t be able to sell your personal stash without a license, but the law says it’s just fine to share the grass as a gift.

The 2021 state law that legalized weed possession for adults cleared New Yorkers to grow weed at home, but that provision has been on hold while the state’s Office of Cannabis Management works on guidelines. Empire State residents 21 and older can already carry up to three ounces of store-bought herb, but the proposed rules would okay up to 5 pounds of trimmed flower once they go into effect. Residential weed farms would be limited to six mature cannabis plants with visible buds and an additional six immature plants. That would apply no matter how many people live in the home.

The Cannabis Control Board was set to vote on the rules Wednesday, but the meeting was postponed to February. Once the regulations are approved, they’ll be open for a 60-day public comment period before they go into effect.

Even when home growers get the green light, the smell could still be a problem. The new regulations say you would have to do something about the odor if your home operation gets so dank that it bothers your neighbors. There will be other limitations as well. NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA) residents are out of luck, for example, because the buildings are under the jurisdiction of the US government and cannabis is illegal at the federal level.

New York’s bumbling rollout of legal weed has been a bit of an embarrassment for regulators, creating an almost anything-goes wild west for ganja fans. There are only 11 licensed dispensaries in Manhattan for example, and just 51 state-wide. You wouldn’t know it from a walk around the five boroughs though, as weed is on display in bodegas on just about every corner—not to mention the technically illegal dedicated weed stores cropping up all over the city. It’s probably for the best that law enforcement has adopted a hands-off approach to the issue while state and city governments cultivate a workable system.