GanjaMystic
New Member
What's up everyone? I'm a medical patient currently residing in Colorado. I'm seriously considering moving to RI with my girlfriend (also a patient) and our daughter. I have spent the past several days researching and thoroughly reading through the RI MMJ laws, but I still have some confusion in a few areas and some questions. I was hoping some patients/caregivers/growers in RI might be able to help me out.
1) Here in CO, patients can possess up to 6 plants (3 mature, 3 immature) and up to 2 ounces of usable marijuana at any given time. However, doctors can recommend more plants and/or ounces, allowing patients to raise an affirmative defense in cases of prosecution. In general, police respect these doctor recommendations and do no arrest patients who stay within their doctor-recommended limits. My girlfriend and I each have a recommendation from our doctor for 24 plants (12 mature, 12 immature) and 8 ounces of usable marijuana, an amount consistent with our usage and needs. If we moved to RI, would our doctor recommendations still allow us to possess up to 8 ounces, or would we have to stay within the default RI limit of 2.5 ounces?
2) Here in CO, under the new Amendment 64, anyone 21 years of age or older can possess up to 1 ounce of usable marijuana. However, anyone over 21 can also grow up to 6 plants (3 mature, 3 immature) and can possess all "of the marijuana produced by the plants on the premises where the plants were grown". In other words, the law in CO recognizes that the amount of dried bud that an individual plant can produce is highly variable and somewhat unpredictable, so it allows a person over 21 to possess all of the bud his/her plants produce, even if the amount produced exceeds the normal limit of 1 ounce. How does this work in RI, where a patient can have up to 12 mature flowering plants, but can only possess up to 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana? In my experience growing, even a single plant, started from seed and flowered immediately upon reaching sexual maturity, can produce well over 2.5 ounces of dried bud. What is a patient in RI supposed to do if his/her plant(s) produce(s) over 2.5 ounces? I read in the Hawkins-Slater Act that a patient can legally sell bud to a compassion center and/or give it away for free to other patients, but is this referring to overages? Because it seems like it says a patient can't ever have more than 2.5 ounces no matter what, which doesn't make sense to me. Let's say, for example, I harvest just one plant and hang it up to dry. After the plant is dried and processed, I weigh the bud and discover the plant has produced 6 ounces. Am I instantly in violation of RI MMJ laws? If my house happened to be raided at that moment, would I be arrested and charged for possessing more than 2.5 ounces, even though I only harvested one plant and had no idea that it would end up yielding more than 2.5 ounces until it was already dried and weighed? What am I legally supposed/allowed to do with the excess bud? Am I legally protected as long as it's still on the premises on which it was grown? Can I save it for myself for future need? Am I allowed to transport it and sell it to a compassion center, 2.5 ounces at a time? Am I supposed to just destroy it immediately? Do I have a certain amount of time in which to look for a needy patient to give it to? This is an extremely confusing and worrisome aspect of the law to me, as the strains I grow routinely yield more than 2.5 ounces per plant.
3) I require a steady supply of medicine, but I typically only harvest once every 2 months. Can I harvest all 12 of my plants at once, every 2 months, set aside a 2 month supply to last me until the next harvest, store it in a locked container, and then just allot myself 2.5 ounces at a time? Or are we pretty much obligated to stagger plants in flower, allowing for more frequent, single-plant harvests? And again, what am I supposed to do if I only harvest one plant at a time but still end up with more than 2.5 ounces once it's dried?
4) Lastly, who decides when a harvested plant becomes 'usable marijuana'? The text of the Hawkins-Slater Act defines 'usable marijuana' as "the dried leaves and flowers of the marijuana plant, and any mixture or preparation thereof," but it doesn't define the word 'dried'. Who decides whether or not the herb is completely 'dried' and therefore at its final weight? For example, let's say I have 2.5 ounces of totally dry medicine in a jar and then harvest a plant to begin drying it, anticipating that the plant will be dry just as I am running out of medicine from the jar. What if my house happened to be raided while I still had medicine in the jar, plus a halfway-dried harvest. What, if anything, would prevent police from calling the halfway-dried medicine 'usable marijuana', putting me over the 2.5 ounce limit? This gets even more confusing and worrisome if curing is taken into consideration. In order for cannabis to be healthy to smoke medicinally, it must be fully cured. Therefore, dried (but not yet cured) bud, although defined as 'usable marijuana' in the text of the law, is not actually usable to medical patients. Curing herb can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2+ months depending on the strain, so how am I supposed to ensure that I have a constant supply of fully cured medicine without going over the 2.5 ounce limit? For example, let's say I require 2.5 ounces of medicine per month to treat my chronic pain. And let's say I have a strain that I can get to yield about 2.5 ounces per plant if I flower it small, so I plan on harvesting one plant and putting one new plant into flower each month. Let's say the strain takes exactly 2 months to flower, half a month to dry, and another half a month to cure. So after the first 2 months, I harvest my first plant. One month later, the medicine from the first plant is fully dried and cured, and it's time to harvest the second plant. I harvest the second plant, and half a month later it is fully dried and ready to start curing. However, I still have half of the medicine from the first plant left. So now I have 1.25 ounces of cured medicine plus 2.5 ounces of dried but still uncured bud. Only the 1.25 ounces of cured medicine is actually usable to me as a medical patient, but the 2.5 ounces of uncured bud is dried and therefore considered to be 'usable marijuana' as well, thus putting me over the 2.5 ounce limit. How is this situation possibly supposed to be avoided?
We are seriously thinking about moving to RI because the rent is more affordable than here in CO, we miss the ocean and the beach and the east coast in general, and because it's the medical state that allows home cultivation closest to our family in the Southeast. We're also excited at the idea of exploring New England since both of us have only been there a few times before.
However, before making the decision to move, we definitely want to make sure we are going to be able to continue to grow and possess/use enough medical cannabis, extracts, concentrates, and edibles to adequately and legally treat our conditions, just as we have been here in CO, and that we have a legal means of getting rid of the excess medicine and hopefully at least recouping our expenses. We definitely do not want to be at risk of being arrested and having our daughter taken from us. That would be an absolute nightmare, obviously. It seems like the RI laws have been written really well and are very reasonable except for the apparent rigidity of the 2.5 ounce rule. I'm just a little worried about that because, as I said, the strains I grow typically yield significantly more than 2.5 ounces from a single plant, and I'm unsure from reading the laws if I'd be allowed to have more with a doctor's recommendation or, if not, what exactly I would be legally able/obligated to do with the excess. I certainly would hate to have to destroy it. That would make me very sad , and would feel like a huge waste of perfectly good high-quality organic medicine that I put a lot of love, time, energy, and money into growing...
Any information/help/advice will be greatly appreciated, preferably from patients/caregivers/growers who actually live in RI and are very familiar with the law.
Give thanks! Bless up!
~ Mystic
1) Here in CO, patients can possess up to 6 plants (3 mature, 3 immature) and up to 2 ounces of usable marijuana at any given time. However, doctors can recommend more plants and/or ounces, allowing patients to raise an affirmative defense in cases of prosecution. In general, police respect these doctor recommendations and do no arrest patients who stay within their doctor-recommended limits. My girlfriend and I each have a recommendation from our doctor for 24 plants (12 mature, 12 immature) and 8 ounces of usable marijuana, an amount consistent with our usage and needs. If we moved to RI, would our doctor recommendations still allow us to possess up to 8 ounces, or would we have to stay within the default RI limit of 2.5 ounces?
2) Here in CO, under the new Amendment 64, anyone 21 years of age or older can possess up to 1 ounce of usable marijuana. However, anyone over 21 can also grow up to 6 plants (3 mature, 3 immature) and can possess all "of the marijuana produced by the plants on the premises where the plants were grown". In other words, the law in CO recognizes that the amount of dried bud that an individual plant can produce is highly variable and somewhat unpredictable, so it allows a person over 21 to possess all of the bud his/her plants produce, even if the amount produced exceeds the normal limit of 1 ounce. How does this work in RI, where a patient can have up to 12 mature flowering plants, but can only possess up to 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana? In my experience growing, even a single plant, started from seed and flowered immediately upon reaching sexual maturity, can produce well over 2.5 ounces of dried bud. What is a patient in RI supposed to do if his/her plant(s) produce(s) over 2.5 ounces? I read in the Hawkins-Slater Act that a patient can legally sell bud to a compassion center and/or give it away for free to other patients, but is this referring to overages? Because it seems like it says a patient can't ever have more than 2.5 ounces no matter what, which doesn't make sense to me. Let's say, for example, I harvest just one plant and hang it up to dry. After the plant is dried and processed, I weigh the bud and discover the plant has produced 6 ounces. Am I instantly in violation of RI MMJ laws? If my house happened to be raided at that moment, would I be arrested and charged for possessing more than 2.5 ounces, even though I only harvested one plant and had no idea that it would end up yielding more than 2.5 ounces until it was already dried and weighed? What am I legally supposed/allowed to do with the excess bud? Am I legally protected as long as it's still on the premises on which it was grown? Can I save it for myself for future need? Am I allowed to transport it and sell it to a compassion center, 2.5 ounces at a time? Am I supposed to just destroy it immediately? Do I have a certain amount of time in which to look for a needy patient to give it to? This is an extremely confusing and worrisome aspect of the law to me, as the strains I grow routinely yield more than 2.5 ounces per plant.
3) I require a steady supply of medicine, but I typically only harvest once every 2 months. Can I harvest all 12 of my plants at once, every 2 months, set aside a 2 month supply to last me until the next harvest, store it in a locked container, and then just allot myself 2.5 ounces at a time? Or are we pretty much obligated to stagger plants in flower, allowing for more frequent, single-plant harvests? And again, what am I supposed to do if I only harvest one plant at a time but still end up with more than 2.5 ounces once it's dried?
4) Lastly, who decides when a harvested plant becomes 'usable marijuana'? The text of the Hawkins-Slater Act defines 'usable marijuana' as "the dried leaves and flowers of the marijuana plant, and any mixture or preparation thereof," but it doesn't define the word 'dried'. Who decides whether or not the herb is completely 'dried' and therefore at its final weight? For example, let's say I have 2.5 ounces of totally dry medicine in a jar and then harvest a plant to begin drying it, anticipating that the plant will be dry just as I am running out of medicine from the jar. What if my house happened to be raided while I still had medicine in the jar, plus a halfway-dried harvest. What, if anything, would prevent police from calling the halfway-dried medicine 'usable marijuana', putting me over the 2.5 ounce limit? This gets even more confusing and worrisome if curing is taken into consideration. In order for cannabis to be healthy to smoke medicinally, it must be fully cured. Therefore, dried (but not yet cured) bud, although defined as 'usable marijuana' in the text of the law, is not actually usable to medical patients. Curing herb can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2+ months depending on the strain, so how am I supposed to ensure that I have a constant supply of fully cured medicine without going over the 2.5 ounce limit? For example, let's say I require 2.5 ounces of medicine per month to treat my chronic pain. And let's say I have a strain that I can get to yield about 2.5 ounces per plant if I flower it small, so I plan on harvesting one plant and putting one new plant into flower each month. Let's say the strain takes exactly 2 months to flower, half a month to dry, and another half a month to cure. So after the first 2 months, I harvest my first plant. One month later, the medicine from the first plant is fully dried and cured, and it's time to harvest the second plant. I harvest the second plant, and half a month later it is fully dried and ready to start curing. However, I still have half of the medicine from the first plant left. So now I have 1.25 ounces of cured medicine plus 2.5 ounces of dried but still uncured bud. Only the 1.25 ounces of cured medicine is actually usable to me as a medical patient, but the 2.5 ounces of uncured bud is dried and therefore considered to be 'usable marijuana' as well, thus putting me over the 2.5 ounce limit. How is this situation possibly supposed to be avoided?
We are seriously thinking about moving to RI because the rent is more affordable than here in CO, we miss the ocean and the beach and the east coast in general, and because it's the medical state that allows home cultivation closest to our family in the Southeast. We're also excited at the idea of exploring New England since both of us have only been there a few times before.
However, before making the decision to move, we definitely want to make sure we are going to be able to continue to grow and possess/use enough medical cannabis, extracts, concentrates, and edibles to adequately and legally treat our conditions, just as we have been here in CO, and that we have a legal means of getting rid of the excess medicine and hopefully at least recouping our expenses. We definitely do not want to be at risk of being arrested and having our daughter taken from us. That would be an absolute nightmare, obviously. It seems like the RI laws have been written really well and are very reasonable except for the apparent rigidity of the 2.5 ounce rule. I'm just a little worried about that because, as I said, the strains I grow typically yield significantly more than 2.5 ounces from a single plant, and I'm unsure from reading the laws if I'd be allowed to have more with a doctor's recommendation or, if not, what exactly I would be legally able/obligated to do with the excess. I certainly would hate to have to destroy it. That would make me very sad , and would feel like a huge waste of perfectly good high-quality organic medicine that I put a lot of love, time, energy, and money into growing...
Any information/help/advice will be greatly appreciated, preferably from patients/caregivers/growers who actually live in RI and are very familiar with the law.
Give thanks! Bless up!
~ Mystic
