Home Cultivation of Cannabis

Cannabis has been widely used for many years in the United States and worldwide.  In the last several years, cannabis has become more recognized as a medical drug as well more acceptable for recreational use both legally and by the public.  The use of cannabis has been legalized in many jurisdictions in the United States and globally, with different regulations on growing (Belackova, Roubalova (Stefunkova), and van de Ven 2019, 44).  Home cultivation is often the only way people have access to cannabis where cannabis sales haven’t been legalized without making an illegal purchase (Azofeifa, Pacula, and Mattson 2021, 527).  The goal of this research is to understand how widely cannabis home cultivation is, the ways in which it is valued by its cultivators and users, how it is used, and to recognize it as a legitimate addition to discussion about urban agriculture.  This information will be a resource for communities and lawmakers to reference when considering updating cannabis related laws concerning individual home cultivators and users.

The literature on urban agriculture has historically focused on food production.  Some scholars have focused on the necessity of growing food during times of crisis and how those needs change through time (Bassett 1981; Moore 2006).  Bassett defined seven distinct time periods in United States history where crisis was the motivating factor for urban gardens (Bassett 1981).  McClintock helps us situate urban gardens into different typologies, defined by who is doing the gardening, the scale of the garden, and how it is organized (2014). 

While Bassett upholds the “Jeffersonian agrarian ideals” of the United States’ past, other academics have noted the historically racist connotations that agrarian farming ideals carries for minorities living in the country (Bassett 1981; Guthman 2008; Ott 2015).  Many scholars claim that urban agriculture has built in systematic inequities that often negatively impact women and people of color. Hoover argued that research must take critical race theory and the dominance of white culture in thought and urban gardening spaces, particularly in predominately minority communities into consideration (Hoover 2013).  Reynolds also takes critical race theory into account when arguing that urban agriculture has the possibility to take apart or preserve systems that are not just (Reynolds 2014).  Research has shown that color-blind rhetoric generally favors white growers while having a damaging effect on people of color (Guthman 2008).

What is less studied historically is the home cultivation of cannabis in urban settings.  There has been a change in public perceptions of cannabis use over the past twenty years, with more people questioning the laws that criminalize and stigma that surround cannabis use.  One academic argued that home cannabis growers make up a large segment of the market of users of cannabis (Decorte 2010).  A study from 2021 argues that cannabis laws are positively affecting home cultivation of cannabis and could create a valuable, affordable, and highly customizable source of cannabis for personal needs, while limiting the commercial market (Azofeifa, Pacula, and Mattson 2021).  Another group of researchers argues that small scale cannabis growers have both the capacity to help or hurt health initiatives in their community (Wadsworth, Schauer, and Hammond 2022).  One group of scholars has argued that home growers could provide cannabis needs for people within the community if rules were more inclusive (Belackova, Roubalova (Stefunkova), and van de Ven 2019).

Much attention has been given to the legal aspects of cannabis growth and consumption.  It has been argued that government prohibition of cannabis production, sales, and use is ineffective and commercial sales, along with home cultivation will decrease illegal sales (Gettman and Kennedy 2014).  A group of researchers argued that new laws concerning cannabis supply, sales, and growing should be focused on specific objectives, contrary to current practices (Belackova et al. 2015).  Other research argues that homemade edible cannabis products as a byproduct of home cultivation creates products with unknown strength and that lawmakers need to take this into consideration when creating laws regarding home cultivation (Borodovsky and Budney 2017).  More research needs to be done to find out how prevalent home cultivation of cannabis is and the effects it can have on individuals and communities.

The research on urban agriculture and home cultivation of cannabis don’t appear to have overlapping research.  However, urban agriculture is more than merely food production.  The intrinsic value of producing and being proud of the final product is important to both types of growers. The same value can be felt by those who cultivate cannabis in their homes as those who grow vegetables in the urban setting.  Many themes of urban agriculture and the home cultivation of cannabis are similar.  Of particular importance are the inequities experienced by minority populations in urban agriculture spaces and with cannabis use and cultivation.

Due to historic legal restrictions on cannabis use, growth, and sales, it is difficult to know exactly how many people are growing cannabis privately (Azofeifa, Pacula, and Mattson 2021, 519).  However, it is known that people have been growing cannabis for years and home cultivation rates are increasing (Gettman and Kennedy 2014; Decorte 2010; Belackova, Roubalova (Stefunkova), and van de Ven 2019).  

It has been argued that laws regulating cannabis use don’t change the overall use of it, but can change the way it is grown and/or used in ways that are healthier for the consumer (Belackova et al. 2015).  Home grown cannabis is not regulated for possible contaminates, such as pesticides (Azofeifa, Pacula, and Mattson 2021, 527).  

Cannabis can be consumed in candy, drinks, or other foods, known as edibles (Borodovsky and Budney 2017, 102).  Home grown cannabis and derived products, such as edibles, can be made at high concentrations that are impossible to regulate (Azofeifa, Pacula, and Mattson 2021, 527).  States which have legalized growing of cannabis have higher reported levels of growing cannabis and those growers have a higher rate of and making and consuming edibles (Borodovsky and Budney 2017, 105–7).  Growers report using “discarded” parts of the plant to make edibles (Borodovsky and Budney 2017, 103).  Since the effects of edibles take longer to be felt than smoking cannabis, some people have taken too much of the drug, causing some health concerns among officials (Borodovsky and Budney 2017, 102).  Researchers have noted that many home growers view their gardening as a recreational activity (Belackova et al. 2015, 303).  

Home cultivation is often the only way people have access to cannabis where cannabis sales haven’t been legalized without making an outright illegal purchase (Azofeifa, Pacula, and Mattson 2021).  The prohibition of cannabis  use and production has failed in the past and these laws have caused “racial disparities” in who is arrested and lack of cannabis for those with medical needs (Gettman and Kennedy 2014, 2).  For example, Indigenous people in Canada have been disproportionately affected by the former prohibition of cannabis use (Belackova, Roubalova (Stefunkova), and van de Ven 2019, 43).  

Home growers could provide cannabis needs for people within the community if rules were more inclusive (Belackova, Roubalova (Stefunkova), and van de Ven 2019, 36).  It is possible that home cultivation could give more access to cannabis to those who need it (Wadsworth, Schauer, and Hammond 2022, 710).  

A potential issue that needs to be tracked with home cultivation is youth access to cannabis (Azofeifa, Pacula, and Mattson 2021, 527).  More research needs to be done to understand and find out if home cultivation gives more access to those whose access needs to be restricted, such as children (Wadsworth, Schauer, and Hammond 2022, 710).  

The high cost of cannabis can be a contributing factor to consider growing cannabis at home (Belackova et al. 2015, 304).  A study showed that cannabis growers are more likely to live in a household below the poverty line (Azofeifa, Pacula, and Mattson 2021, 527).  Home cultivation of cannabis saves consumers and patients from high fees and taxes (Azofeifa, Pacula, and Mattson 2021, 518–19).  Growing cannabis for one’s self reduces overall cost for cannabis (Belackova et al. 2015, 296).  Small scale cannabis cultivation is understudied (Decorte 2010).  The legality of cannabis home cultivation will make this product more affordable and available to those who need it.  Cannabis should be legally available and affordable to those who need it, regardless of where they live in the United States.  I hope to move the conversation surrounding cannabis home cultivation and use to a dialogue about equity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

 

Azofeifa, Alejandro, Rosalie L. Pacula, and Margaret E. Mattson. 2021. “Cannabis Growers in the United States: Findings From a National Household Survey 2010−2014.” Journal of Drug Issues 51 (3): 518–30.

Bassett, Thomas J. 1981. “Reaping on the Margins A Century of Community Gardening in America.” Landscape 25 (2): 1–8.

Belackova, Vendula, Nicole Maalste, Tomas Zabransky, and Jean Paul Grund. 2015. “‘ Should I Buy or Should I Grow ?’ How Drug Policy Institutions and Drug Market Transaction Costs Shape the Decision to Self-Supply with Cannabis in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.” International Journal of Drug Policy 26 (3): 296–310.

Belackova, Vendula, Michaela Roubalova (Stefunkova), and Katinka van de Ven. 2019. “Overview of ‘Home’ Cultivation Policies and the Case for Community-Based Cannabis Supply.” International Journal of Drug Policy 71 (September): 36–46.

Borodovsky, Jacob T., and Alan J. Budney. 2017. “Legal Cannabis Laws, Home Cultivation, and Use of Edible Cannabis Products: A Growing Relationship?” International Journal of Drug Policy 50: 102–10.

Decorte, Tom. 2010. “Small Scale Domestic Cannabis Cultivation: An Anonymous Web Survey among 659 Cannabis Cultivators in Belgium.” Contemporary Drug Problems 37 (2): 341–70.

Gettman, Jon, and Michael Kennedy. 2014. “Let It Grow - The Open Market Solution to Marijuana Control.” Harm Reduction Journal 11 (32): 1–9.

Guthman, Julie. 2008. “‘If They Only Knew’: Color Blindness and Universalism in California Alternative Food Institutions.” The Professional Geographer 60 (3): 387–97.

Hoover, Brandon. 2013. “White Spaces in Black and Latino Places: Urban Agriculture and Food Sovereignty.” Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development 3 (4): 109–15.

McClintock, Nathan. 2014. “Radical, Reformist, and Garden-Variety Neoliberal: Coming to Terms with Urban Agriculture’s Contradictions.” Local Environment 19 (2): 147–71.

Moore, Sarah. 2006. “Forgotten Roots of the Green City: Subsistence Gardening in Columbus, Ohio, 1900-1940.” Urban Geography 27 (2): 174–92.

Ott, Cindy. 2015. “Making Sense of Urban Gardens.” Gastronomica 15 (3): 18–27.

Reynolds, Kristin. 2014. “Disparity Despite Diversity: Social Injustice in New York City’s Urban Agriculture System.” Antipode 47 (1): 240–59.

Wadsworth, Elle, Gillian L. Schauer, and David Hammond. 2022. “Home Cannabis Cultivation in the United States and Differences by State-Level Policy, 2019-2020.” The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse 48 (6): 701–11.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lisa Spikes

P.O. Box 111652

Carrollton, Texas  75011

 

 

Mr. Duncan Hilchey

Publisher and Editor in Chief

Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development

Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems

295 Hook Place

Ithaca, New York  14850

 

January 22, 2023

 

Dear Mr. Hilchey and editorial board of Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development,

Please find attached my research proposal, “Home Cultivation of Cannabis,” for possible publication in your journal.  I believe you will find the research article relevant and important to today’s discussion about those who rely on the multitude of benefits cannabis provides, and the many aspects of home cultivation for individuals and communities in our country.

Although research has been done on urban gardens and cannabis home cultivation, not much attention has been given to the intersection of these two types of agriculture.  In this research project, I will be conducting questionnaires of self-reported home cultivators of cannabis.  My goal for this research is to provide lawmakers relevant data in hopes of making cannabis use and growth legalized in all United States jurisdictions.  The legality of cannabis home cultivation will make this product more affordable and available to those who need it.  I hope to get data that will support home cultivation legalization by sharing the ways that people grow and use cannabis and their rationalizations for doing do.  Cannabis should be legally available and affordable to those who need it, regardless of where they live in the United States.  I hope to move the conversation surrounding cannabis home cultivation and use to a dialogue about equity.

I will be conducting this research on my own within a two month period.  I received a $2,000 grant from the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California in San Diego to complete the research.  I anticipate this research and article will be completed by April 15, 2023 and ready for submission.  I have not submitted this research to any other journal for publication.

Thank you for your consideration for publication.

Sincerely,

 

Lisa Spikes