For the first time, a Washington State Senate committee has given approval to legislation that would legalize the home cultivation of cannabis for everyone 21 and older.
Although Washington was among the first states to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012, adults cannot legally grow plants at home, a restriction that exists in only one other legal marijuana state (New Jersey).
Senate Bill 6204, introduced last month by State Senator Rebecca Saldaña (D), State Senator Noel Frame (D), and State Senator T’wina Nobles (D), would create a legal pathway for adults 21 and older to cultivate marijuana at their residence for personal use. The measure mirrors a House proposal, House Bill 1449, that cleared a key committee last year but did not become law.
As written, the bill would allow individuals to grow up to six marijuana plants. Regardless of how many adults live at a property, households would be limited to 15 plants total. Any marijuana harvested from those plants could be possessed legally so long as it stays within the home where it was grown.
To limit neighborhood impacts, the legislation requires that plants and harvested marijuana remain out of public view and not produce odors detectable from adjacent properties.
The bill also lays out escalating consequences for exceeding the limits. Growing between seven and 15 plants would be handled as a civil infraction, while cultivating 16 or more plants would continue to be treated as a felony offense. Authorities would be allowed to seize and destroy plants that exceed the legal threshold.
With the committee’s approval, SB 6204 must now be passed through a second committee before it can be up for consideration by the full Senate.
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