Do you know that you can produce your own Cannabis/Marijuana for medical purposes?
Source – Health Canada
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Like we have said earlier on this platform, medical marijuana/cannabis can be gotten from the various authorised licensed producers across the country (a list of these producers) has been previously published on our website). But the truth is, under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR), you can plant or grow your own cannabis for medical purpose. In fact, under this law, cannabis/marijuana can be assessed for medical purposes in three ways which are
- buy safe, quality-controlled cannabis from a licensed producer, or
- register with Health Canada to produce a limited amount of cannabis for his/her own medical purposes, or
- register with Health Canada to designate another person to produce it for him/her
Personal and Designated Production
If a person wants to produce a limited amount of cannabis for his/her own medical purposes, he/she needs to register with Health Canada. He/she can also choose to designate another person to produce a limited amount of cannabis for him/her. A person can produce a limited number of marijuana plants under a maximum of two registrations (for one other person and him/herself, or two other people). Marijuana plants may be produced under a maximum of four registrations at one address.
A registered or designated person is permitted to produce marijuana plants indoors and/or outdoors, but not both at the same time. If a person wishes to produce marijuana plants outdoors, the boundary of the land on which the production site is located cannot have any points in common with the boundary of the land on which a school, public playground, day care facility or other public place frequented mainly by persons under 18 years of age.
The number of plants a person can grow is determined by the daily amount recommended by their health care practitioner and a set of formulas in the regulations. For reference, consider the example provided below to help demonstrate how many plants a person would be able to produce and store in different scenarios (i.e. growing indoors, outdoors, or a combination of indoors and outdoors).
For example, if a health care practitioner recommended 1 gram of dried marijuana per day a person would be registered to grow:
- 5 plants indoors;
- 2 plants outdoors; or
- 4 plants indoors and 1 plant outdoors but plants would not be permitted to be grown indoors and outdoors at the same time.
If a health care practitioner recommended 3 grams per day a person would be registered to grow:
- 15 plants indoors;
- 6 plants outdoors; or
- 11 plants indoors and 3 plants outdoors but plants would not be permitted to be grown indoors and outdoors at the same time.
A registered or designated person is responsible for taking all necessary measures to ensure the security of the cannabis in his/her possession, in storage, and in his/her production area. Health Canada recommends measures such as:
- strong locks on the doors to the areas where the registered or designated person produces or stores cannabis, or
- installing a home monitoring or alarm system.
Health Canada also recommends that registered and designated persons be discreet with their production.
Individuals who are registered with Health Canada to produce a limited amount of cannabis for medical purposes are expected to obey all federal, provincial and municipal laws and by-laws.