They call it “the Immaculate Conception.”
Backers of legalizing recreational marijuana often use that miraculous reference when asked how Minnesotans can grow their own plants as soon as a law takes effect if the seeds needed to do so can’t legally be imported into the state. While 22 states have legalized growing the plant for medical or recreational uses, it remains illegal federally, and moving marijuana products across state lines is banned in most states.
So how does a state produce in-state plants without out-of-state seeds? Once plants are grown, they will produce seeds. But how do those pioneer plants get their start if everything related to cannabis in the state must be produced in the state?
See above. The wink-and-a-nod response comes because advocates know seeds will make it into the state — they already do. The legal gray area governing seeds is a don’t-ask-don’t-tell proposition. A federal Drug Enforcement Administration letter last year seems to clear the way for the movement of seeds as a result of the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized low-THC hemp. But lawyers are still reluctant to offer unequivocal advice.
It will become more than academic on August 1 if negotiators resolve differences between recreational cannabis bills that have already passed the House and Senate. Both versions say that possession of marijuana will be legal that day. And because both bills legalize the growing of cannabis plants for personal use, that could also be planting day.