"More than just counting the plants": Different home cannabis cultivation policies, cannabis supply contexts and approaches to their evaluation

Abstract

<p>Home cannabis cultivation is considered a low risk practice that yields many individual-level benefits, but evaluations of home cultivation policies have been limited. This chapter aims to provide an overview of home cultivation policies worldwide, explore the variations in the respective laws and regulations and discuss implications for evaluating policy outcomes.</p> <p>We reviewed relevant laws/regulations in states/countries which had non-prohibitive measures for recreational "home cannabis cultivation" in place. We assigned each into one of twelve policy categories (de facto and de jure policies of depenalization, decriminalization and legalization, pertaining to home cultivation only or alongside other supply options). We identified 27 jurisdictions with non-prohibitive measures to home cultivation and assigned them into ten of the twelve policy categories.</p> <p>Policy variations included threshold number of plants and their maturity, cultivation for personal use only, authorisation of cannabis crops and cannabis sharing. The diversity of laws and regulations pertaining to home cannabis cultivation make evaluation of the said policies challenging.</p> <p>When evaluating home cultivation policies, population-level outcomes might not be meaningful because home cultivation represents only a fraction of cannabis supply. Evaluations could rather focus on how these policies align with existing cultivation practices and as such, how they encourage policy adherence.</p>