Marijuana laws can be quite confusing. As it stands in 2019, the drug exists in a kind of grey area, where it’s legal in some states and illegal in others. Muddying the waters further is MMJ, or medical marijuana, a type of cannabis utilized by patients suffering from a spectrum of conditions. MMJ is legal in far more states than its recreational cousin, but can still prove confusing for patients and non-patients alike. When it comes to actually growing marijuana, the stats become even more confusing. The bottom line is that MMJ patients can grow more marijuana than non-MMJ patients, or recreational users. You might be curious about why this is, or wondering “How much cannabis can I legally grow?” We examine this and more in our breakdown below.
1. They Require More For Their Health
The single biggest reason, and maybe the most obvious one, is that MMJ patients require more marijuana for their health. For them, marijuana isn’t recreational; it’s crucial to their overall well-being. Think of it as medicine. If the average person could cultivate their own medicine, for whatever condition they suffer from, then they most certainly would. It’s no different for MMJ patients. The list of conditions that MMJ can provide relief from is vast and wide. Some are temporary and require only modest amounts of the drug. Others, like Parkinson’s or MS, are far more serious, and therefore require more effort to keep in check. So what exactly is the legal amount of cannabis to grow? Well, this varies wildly from state-to-state. More confusingly, it’s ever-changing. Here is a list of current state regulations, but as MMJ is a developing medicine, these are all subject to change.
Image by noexcusesradio on Pixabay: Many patients can grow marijuana with MMJ recommendation.
The best policy is to keep up to date with your local health care professional, or online with trusted sources like MMJ Recs. They will help you keep abreast of the situation, and ensure you stay within legal limits.
2. They Want to Control the Purity of the Product
For patients battling chronic conditions, the purity of the MMJ is extremely important. The more pure the product, the stronger the effect. If you’re battling an extremely debilitating condition, then you want to be in control of the marijuana you take. One good way to do this is by growing the product yourself. It should be said that much of the medical marijuana grown in the U.S. these days is very pure, and manufacturers put a lot of effort into ensuring the quality of their product. However, a homegrown touch can just serve to ensure that patients are availing of the purest product possible, meaning an MMJ recommendation and growing marijuana go hand in hand.
3. It’s Cost-Effective (and Time-Effective)
Conditions that require a constant supply of medical marijuana can become expensive for patients, in both financial terms and time-efficiency terms. Going back and forth from dispensaries every other week can be draining, and the cumulative cost of the medicine can become overwhelming for some patients. Growing their own marijuana provides a valuable option which both relieves financial pressure and provides easier access to the drug. Growing marijuana properly might take a little while to get the hang of, but if you’re dealing with a chronic condition, it’s likely to be worth it over the long haul. Just make sure you keep on top of the legal amount of cannabis to grow, depending on where you are in the country. Recreational users of marijuana don’t have this necessity, and therefore can adapt their spending as they go.
4. Non-Reliance on Dispensaries
As well as costing patients both time and money, dispensaries are the only avenue for patients to avail of their medicine. Therefore, they become totally reliant on them as the sole outlet for MMJ. Giving patients the option to grow their own MMJ at home removes this dependency, and may serve to make them more content in the long run. Again, for recreational users, marijuana is a luxury item, so this reliance isn’t really a factor for them. Therefore, it makes sense that MMJ patients can grow more marijuana than the general public.
MMJ Recommendation and Growing Marijuana
Before you can start growing your own marijuana, you have to possess a valid MMJ recommendation, or MMJ card. While the process to achieve this varies from state-to-state, by and large it’s fairly simple. If you suffer from one of the conditions listed on the state’s individual rundown of qualifying conditions, then you can avail of MMJ, and even obtain your MMJ card easily over the internet. These MMJ cards need to be renewed every year; patients can easily do this through an experienced site like MMJRecs. Some states have a very long and broad list of qualifying conditions. Others are more narrow and specific. But, as MMJ usage becomes the norm, more and more states are accepting the drug as a valuable, natural medicinal option. Over the coming years we should see more states embracing MMJ, and subsequently allowing patients to grow their own.
However, before you start any kind of MMJ cultivation operation, make sure to check all legal avenues you can. You must be completely certain that it’s legal in your state, and that you abide by the parameters set down in the law.
Featured image by quinntheislander on Pixabay