This year they are back in Parliament, encouraging MPs to make a change. They argue that homegrown cannabis would not put much of a dent in the regulated retail sale of marijuana, and that the penalties for home growing fall disproportionately on people of color.
Law enforcement groups and cities are among those opposed to it, because it exposes children to the drug and adds to the burden on local police.
Senate Bill 6204 It would allow adults over the age of 21 to grow up to six cannabis plants at home. Two adults living together can grow up to 12 plants and in households with three or more adults can grow up to 15. The Senate Labor and Commerce Committee held a hearing on the bill on Monday.
The proposal is the 11th year lawmakers have introduced legislation to allow home cultivation since Washington legalized recreational cannabis in 2012.
Washington is one of only three states to legalize medical and recreational cannabis, but bans domestic marijuana. When Colorado legalized recreational cannabis the same year Washington did, it also allowed home cultivation.
“I’m a veteran and I don’t see any reason why I can’t grow some plants in my house for my own personal use,” Tumwater resident Erik Johansen told the Senate committee. “There are no children there.”
Some critics of the bill say the state would lose millions of dollars a year in tax revenue if consumers chose to grow marijuana at home instead of paying a 37 percent excise tax on cannabis when they buy the products.
Advocates say that’s difficult because growing cannabis is particularly difficult.
“We’re not your competition. We’re your neighbors and your customers,” John Kingsbury, chair of the Cannabis Alliance’s patient committee, said at this week’s hearing.
“If you’re willing to commit crimes against your neighbors to protect half a percent of your sales, then the promise of I-502 has gone terribly wrong,” added Kingsbury, referring to the ballot initiative that voters approved in 2012 to legalize the sale of recreational marijuana.
On average, between 2013 and 2019 in Washington, blacks were five times more likely to be arrested for home cultivation than whites and Hispanics were 2.4 times more likely, according to a 2022 report by the state’s Social Equity in Cannabis Task Force.
Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, D-Seattle, the bill’s lead sponsor, said that even if the smell bothers the neighbors of home growers, the law could be enforced and managed.
As written, people who do not control the smell of marijuana plants or who have them in places visible to the public can face a third-degree civil infraction. Law enforcement can seize and destroy plants from a home that grow beyond the legal limit.
The Liquor and Cannabis Council would not be involved in home grow regulation.
James McMahan, policy director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, said law enforcement would need a search warrant and probable cause to make a seizure.
The association is against the bill. “We are concerned about the continued normalization of marijuana for our youth,” McMahan said.
The Association of Washington Cities also opposes it. “It creates a huge burden on local law enforcement,” said Derrick Nunnally, the group’s government relations advocate.
The bill prohibits the cultivation of cannabis in foster homes and family day care homes. There are no restrictions for households with children.
In places where marijuana businesses are banned, residents would still be able to grow it at home.
House Bill 2614It was a companion bill scheduled for a hearing in the House Committee on Consumer Protection and Business on Friday, but was pulled from the agenda for consideration. His primary sponsor is Rep. Shelley Kloba, D-Bothell.
“The legalization of home brew in Washington state is inevitable,” Kingsbury said. “My only hope is that I live long enough to see it happen.”
“It would be disappointing if legalization turned into corporate weed,” he added.
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On May 29, 2026, global cannabis technology company CannBro was invited to the Cannabis Expo in Johannesburg to share insights on emerging cannabis-related medical applications and supply chain strategies in the cannabis markets.
At the event, CannBro highlighted its partnership with the CHEEBA Cannabis Academy to promote industry education, compliance awareness and the development of regulatory standards in emerging cannabis markets. The company highlighted the importance of establishing strong regulatory and compliance frameworks for the sustainable growth of the industry.
As a company certified with ISO 13485 and GMP, CannBro actively explores medical cannabis applications and collaborates with health organizations to discuss potential clinical research and CBD product applications.
CannBro also introduced the “Factory Pricing + Local Stock” strategy, combining manufacturing capabilities in China with warehouses located overseas, enabling efficient delivery of local inventory. The company currently operates warehouses in the United States, Canada, Germany and South Africa and has helped more than 150 customers with local stock delivery solutions that reduce costs and improve inventory turnover.
In addition, CannBro visited local cannabis cultivation facilities to learn about the evolution of the South African market and explore potential partnerships for cultivation, medical applications and product development.
Andy Zhao, CEO of CannBro, said: “As the global cannabis market matures, fulfillment and medical applications will become key drivers of sustainable growth. CannBro remains committed to advancing the industry through education, medical research and supply chain innovation.”
Kentucky’s Democratic governor is calling a top GOP lawmaker a “total lack of humanity” after he suggested state law enforcement officials should prosecute people who act under a recent executive order to expand access to medical cannabis.
“Any organization, any licensee involved in this illegal expansion should be prosecuted,” Nemes said at a legislative committee hearing. “This is not the way forward.”
On Thursday, Beshear said signing the cannabis order “was the right thing to do, and it was necessary, because they write in the name of certain medical conditions in the law, but then they write in symptoms like pain and nausea, which are all clearly symptoms.”
After the Legislature declined to take up a proposal this session to expand the list of conditions, Beshear used his authority to also ensure that patients with 15 additional health disorders (Parkinson’s disease, HIV/AIDS, sickle cell anemia, fibromyalgia, arthritis and glaucoma) also have access to medical marijuana.
“A lot of people are helping, and I was really surprised to see an attack from a lawmaker who called on the attorney general to prosecute people who were dying of a terminal illness to ensure medical cannabis,” the governor said Thursday. “I mean, that’s a complete lack of humanity. It’s really low. I mean, you want to judge a person with ALS? That’s definitely not leadership, and even for that person, it’s a new record.”
“Sometimes we see people making those threats, and in today’s culture, I think they think it’s masculinity, but masculinity is not being the bully on the playground. It’s being the person who stands between the bully and the person who’s picking on them. That’s my job, to stand between those bullies and those people with these very serious conditions, to say, ‘something that makes me addicted,’ what makes me addicted. Opioids, and that can help.” That’s what I’m going to do as governor. These people are in real pain, they need help. they have and they need this safe alternative. Politics should never get in the way of doing what’s right for Kentucky.”
Kentucky’s medical marijuana program has progressed to the point where cannabis is now “readily available” to patients who need it, the governor said, so the amnesty order will expire on July 1.
“This should give people plenty of time, the rest of the month, if you’re traveling out of state, to contact an eligible doctor and apply for a medical cannabis card right here in Kentucky,” he said.
The latest executive order on the terms is a follow-up to Beshear’s 2023 bill to legalize medical cannabis.
At a press conference last week to announce the new medical marijuana order, the governor also said he believes “it’s time” for broader decriminalization of cannabis.
The governor, who has long championed cannabis reform, he anticipated a market launch that monthwhile claiming that medical marijuana will help thousands of patients find an alternative to opioids for pain management.
Beshear previously acknowledged that “it’s taken longer than we would have liked” to sustain the industry since he signed off on legalizing medical marijuana in 2023.
Considering this delayed implementation, he He signed an executive order to waive renewal fees for patients who get the cards so that they are not charged again before the stores open. And another order he signed to provide protections for qualified patients who obtain medical marijuana outside of Kentucky “will remain in place.”
Beshear announced separately last year that the state had launched a new online directory that allows people to see where medicinal cannabis will open next to them
Meanwhile, the governors sent a letter to Kentucky’s congressional delegation last yearurging them to “take decisive action to protect the constitutional rights of our law-abiding medical cannabis patients” by repealing the federal ban on possession of firearms by marijuana users.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) warned Kentucky residents that in 2024, if they choose to participate in the state’s medical marijuana program, they will be prohibited from buying or possessing firearms under federal law.
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When most people picture cannabis, they picture the counter, the plump flower already sitting on the shelf. The amount of industry it puts into it is visible, in cultivation and manufacturing and distribution, and in the filling work that consumes most of the day. Orlando Padilla got into the traditional side of the plant long before it was legal, and he made time for it, and now runs NovaGrow Labs, a social equity operator that takes cannabis from seed to sale and sells it vertically in Los Angeles. In a video recently released by the LA Department of Cannabis Regulation. “Now you have this opportunity to become an authorized operator, but you have to put in the work.”
Vertical integration First came the factory, then the business. “I was in love with the plant at a very young age, and coming from the traditional side of things, it was exciting to be able to do things legally and correctly,” says Orlando. “So creating a real cannabis-based business was almost a dream come true for me.” Vertical integration is the way that dream holds its shape, each license in hand, the flower leads all the way. “We are able to cultivate, grow our own flower, package it under our own brand or package it for others, distribute it and ultimately sell it at our doorstep,” says Orlando. “The cultivation never stops. As an indoor crop, we’re basically growing 24/7. You have to have reliable people.”
It’s that hour-by-hour schedule that keeps Reg Escobar growing. “There are schedules to meet, there are many critical points,” says Reg. The room comes down to its inputs, the systems that maintain the temperature against the nutrient program, the watering cycles, the light cycles. Genetics carries the heaviest burden of proof. “We do a lot of fen hunting for different breeds,” says Reg. “Finding the right product that we believe is usable and will represent our brand.” None of them run on a person. “I couldn’t do it by myself, that’s why I need all these, we’ll call them lieutenants, running the business,” says Reg. “We rely on our employees because they have the final say. They are the ones in charge of the product, and communicating with them helps us ensure that what we get from distribution and cultivation is what we expect every time.”
That same trust carries over to the counter, where it becomes product knowledge. “Many of our employees are very knowledgeable about all the products in the store,” says Jewels, an employee of The Chronic. “So we make sure we pick the product that’s exactly what you need.”
Cultivation was NovaGrow’s first license, and every operator must clear the way to the filling machinery. “Metrc’s integration was very difficult to successfully cultivate and work through the industry on any type of license,” says Reg. “You have to understand our compliance systems, the tracking and tracing system, the SOPs that are issued by DCC, maybe DCR, any of our local regulators, with the proper training to overcome that.” SOPs have come together over time, written specifically for each license, the thing that moves the operation on its day. The day begins before the doors open. “The retail store opens at 6:00, so we have the staff coming in at 5:45,” says Orlando.
Part of the community For people who work on the floor, shifts involve more than just your classic work schedule. “It’s a blessing to be a part of it, to see where we started and where we are and talk about our future,” says Moses, an attorney with The Chronic. The brand NovaGrow is launching comes with a name that carries its history. “If you know the history of running the brand, The Chronic, there’s a lot of responsibility with that brand name,” says Orlando. “I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to work with that name. So when I deliver the product I have to make sure it’s of the highest quality and people respect it. It’s a respectable name in this industry.”
The base of the whole thing is the block it sits on. “Our culture is about community. We’re part of the community and we’re happy to be part of the community,” says Moises. “I grew up in this neighborhood, so it’s very special to me. Everyone has their local coffee shop, their local donut shop. We’re the local cannabis shop.”
The weight of regulation is the part that Orlando says new operators misread. “This is the most regulated industry in the world, and there are so many levels, so many hurdles,” says Orlando. Fulfillment is the majority of the work, not part of it. “Cannabis fills almost 75%,” says Reg. “A lot of new operators and owners think it’s something they’ll be able to handle themselves, but a successful operation definitely needs a compliance manager, a familiar person who can provide training and guaranteed SOPs to make sure we’re staying within regulation, compliance and the 10 different tax levels that are going on.”
Los Angeles puts its own layer on top. “Now with the city of L.A., construction and safety and the fire department, it’s very difficult to operate here,” Orlando says. The scrutiny is heavier on someone who came from the illegal market. “I understand this came from an illegal underground place, but now that it’s legal, it’s a challenge because we’re constantly being watched,” Orlando says. “Getting a license is hard enough, and once we get these licenses, we need that extra support to be able to operate.” The tools exist, in his reading, and taking it is the gap. “I think the tools are there. DCR, you’re doing a good job of making the platform available, but I still think people need that push to get on there and actually use what you have available,” says Orlando.
Too many operators leave those resources on the table, as Reg sees it. “I feel like there are a lot of operators out there that aren’t making the most of their resources,” says Reg. “That’s what we’ve really tried to do here at Nova, especially starting in Orlando, being part of the social equity program.”
For Orlando, his stake is personal, and they cross everything that existed before the license. “I’m very passionate about this. I made time for this thing,” Orlando says. “For me, this is vindication and validation. Coming from the streets, let’s keep it real, seeing the evolution of cannabis and now being a business owner in the city of LA, speaking with Dr. B is a special day for me.” What Reg lets other operators do is stop trying to do it alone. “Get involved with your cannabis community, use whatever resources you have,” says Reg. “It’s the only way we can all stay together as a community and thrive and succeed.”