New York’s Cannabis Control Board (CCB) held its second meeting Oct. 21, where regulators announced proposed rules that would allow home grow for medical cannabis patients, as well as provisions to expunge more than 200,000 past cannabis-related offenses.
Under the proposed regulations, registered medical cannabis patients and caregivers could grow up to three immature and three mature plants per individual, or up to six immature and six mature plants per household, according to a local WBFO report.
New York has roughly 150,695 patients enrolled in its medical cannabis program, according to the Times Union. Without a legal home grow option, these patients have been required to purchase products from one of the state’s 10 licensed medical cannabis businesses, the news outlet reported.
On the criminal justice side, the more than 200,000 records of past cannabis convictions are currently being withheld from criminal background checks, according to WBFO, and the offenses would be expunged under the new CCB rules.
The proposed regulations will now undergo a 60-day public comment period, WBFO reported, and could be amended based on the feedback received.
At its first meeting on Oct. 5, the CCB expanded New York’s medical cannabis program to include the use of whole flower, among other changes.
