Adults in Connecticut can legally start cultivating their own cannabis plants at home for personal use after one of the provisions in the state’s 2021 marijuana legalization law took effect.
The state Department of Consumer Protection published a statement concerning the rule change where it encouraged those considering cannabis cultivation to do so “responsibly”.
The law stipulates that adults 21 and older can grow up to six plants but only a maximum of three may mature at any one time. For households with more than one adult, a total of 12 plants, of which six may be mature, can be grown.
All cannabis plants must, however, be grown indoors and kept in a locked, secure area that is inaccessible to minors. Once harvested, state regulators also urge cultivators to store marijuana in packaging that children cannot open. A maximum of five ounces of cannabis may be stored at a private residence.
The legalization of cannabis cultivation in Connecticut is the latest in a series of marijuana rule changes in the state since lawmakers approved a bill legalizing the creation of an adult-use marijuana market.
Possession of up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana in public became legal in July, 2021, while criminal penalties for home cultivation of small quantities were eliminated later that year and made subject to a civil fine. Medical marijuana patients, meanwhile, were permitted to grow cannabis at home from October, 2021.
Recreational sales of cannabis in Connecticut then became legal earlier this year in January. The market has quickly grown, with recreational sales now surpassing medical marijuana purchases.
Gov. Ned Lamont has signed off on other changes to Connecticut’s cannabis laws in recent weeks through an omnibus bill that allows marijuana retailers to apply for off-site event permits, restricts sales of hemp-derived cannabinoids such as delta-8, and creates a new Office of the Cannabis Ombudsman.
