Good to Grow: Supporting Patients’ Rights

At goodblend, we fully support our patients’ right to grow medicinal cannabis at home. We urge our Pennsylvania legislative leadership to support and pass Senate Bill 1024.

For over a year now, Senator Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia) has worked to pass legislation that would permit patients in the state’s medical marijuana program to grow their own medicine for personal use. The proposed bill, originally introduced in November 2021, would permit patients to grow up to six adult marijuana plants and possess up to 30 grams of home grown, personal use cannabis without a cultivation license. 

Home grow policies are already on the books in most states where cannabis is legal for medical or recreational use. Allowing Pennsylvania patients to grow at home would give them the same rights as medical cannabis consumers in states like Utah, Arizona, Missouri, and many more.

The benefits of legalizing home grow are clear. Increased access, lowered costs, and greater autonomy over their own medical care should be an essential right for any Pennsylvania cannabis patient. 

In some areas of the state, patients are forced to drive over an hour each way to find the nearest dispensary. That is simply unacceptable. Legalizing home grow for registered patients would help expand access to all corners of the state and drive down one of the barriers to access that many Pennsylvanians face. Growing cannabis at home would also allow patients to produce their medicine at costs that are often lower than dispensary products and give them greater control over their own health & wellness. 

To be clear, “home grow” and “grow houses” are two very different things. Illicit (but often sophisticated) grow houses are intended to circumvent cannabis laws and flood the market with unregulated products. Pennsylvania’s home grow legislation will place limits on the number of plants a patient can grow at one time and the amount (in weight) of cannabis that they can possess from what they’ve cultivated at home – preventing the average patient from operating an illegal grow facility.

Despite being called “weed,” growing cannabis is not easy. It takes time, dedication, and skill. We believe that creating a legal opportunity for our patients to learn and understand the work that goes into growing premium cannabis will benefit them on a personal level, in addition to fostering innovation and inspiring the next generation of great growers to plant themselves right here in Pennsylvania. 

One of our strongest commitments is to bridging business with social responsibility in the cannabis industry and building a more inclusive, equitable industry. We look forward to working with fellow advocates, industry leaders, and our elected officials to get SB1024 reintroduced and passed during this legislative session – so we can let good grow here.