BOSTON >> Growing marijuana would no longer be deemed "agriculture" in Massachusetts, under a bill granted initial approval by the Massachusetts House.
The bill (H 4326), which arose from a dispute over a farmer's land in the 2,820-person town of Plympton, excludes "the growing, cultivation, distribution or dispensation of marijuana" from the definitions of the terms agriculture, aquaculture, floriculture, and horticulture.
Plympton farmer Jeff Randall had hoped to build a marijuana cultivation center on his agricultural-residential property and argued to lawmakers that the agricultural zoning gave him the ability to grow marijuana without a special permit.
"We're only asking to do agriculture, which, you know, if you raise it from a plant that grows in the ground and photosynthesizes, it's agriculture," Randall said at an April hearing on the bill.
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