Adult use marijuana is now legal on both sides of the Hudson. But while New York’s law allows residents to grow up to six marijuana plants at home, in New Jersey, cultivating 10 plants in your basement could get you 20 years in prison.
The Garden State is an outlier in its ban on what is known as “home grow”--allowing residents to cultivate a limited number of marijuana plants at home for personal use, but not for sale. All fourteen other states that have legalized marijuana allow home grow for medical marijuana patients, while the legislation signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo this week allows all citizens to have up to six plants in their homes.
New Jersey’s prohibition on home grow has been controversial because it means citizens can only use cannabis that they purchased from a licensed dispensary in the state, at whatever prices they set.
Some advocates also point out that the state’s 14 existing medical dispensaries have long struggled to keep up with demand. They say allowing people to grow at home would ease demand.