Maryland Marijuana Justice Boosts Legal Home Cultivation of Cannabis with Massive Seed Giveaway

“The Question Four Seed Score” Coming to Multiple Locations Throughout Maryland on July 1

Handoff of 30,000 cannabis seeds from DC Citizens at Midnight July 1

ANNAPOLIS, MD —On Saturday, July 1, 2023, Maryland Marijuana Justice (MDMJ) will celebrate the first day of Maryland’s cannabis legalization with their upcoming Question 4 Seed Score at volunteer-run sites across the state. The first part of the seed giveaway will include a handoff to MDMJ volunteers of over 30,000 viable cannabis seeds. The handoff will take place on the DC and Maryland border at Chevy Chase Circle at one minute past midnight on Saturday, July 1. Then, starting at ‘high noon’, cannabis seeds will be given away to adults over 21 at 13 locations throughout the state.

Thanks to the resounding success of the Question 4 referendum placed before Maryland voters in 2022, adults in Maryland will be allowed to grow up to two cannabis plants at home for personal use, and Maryland’s medical cannabis patients will be allowed to grow up to four plants. While this is a positive step forward, MDMJ believes that this plant limit is not enough to meet the needs of many Maryland residents who rely on cannabis for medicinal purposes or who simply want to grow for their family.

“Is cannabis really legal if growing more than two plants will result in three years imprisonment and a $5,000 fine?,” asked Nekeidra Cromwell, a MDMJ volunteer, “This policy only benefits the few cannabis companies permitted to grow and sell a product consumers can produce at home for themselves – shouldn’t my rights as a citizen and consumer come before the state-sponsored oligopoly?”

“Two to four plants are simply inadequate for people who consume an average amount of cannabis,” said Steve Ellmore, a Prince George’s county resident, founder of The Unprescribed and MDMJ volunteer. “Plants have a life cycle from seed to vegetation to flower. If a plant fails, you have to start the whole process over, leaving patients without medicine for several months.”

Furthermore, Maryland’s cannabis law essentially creates a two-tiered system with respect to cannabis, where medical cannabis patients will be treated differently than non-medical cannabis users. MDMJ believes this will increase enforcement complexity and disparate treatment of cannabis users.

“A uniform ‘personal use’ standard for all adults across the state is easier for everyone involved and would put Maryland on par with Virginia and DC – failure to make this change would leave Maryland citizens under the most punitive system in the region with the highest risk of otherwise avoidable police encounters.” says Luke Jones, a Montgomery County resident and Executive Director of Maryland NORML.

“Maryland must not impose criminal penalties that restrict personal freedoms without sufficient public health or public safety justification. Allowing adults to produce their own cannabis at home for non-commercial purposes poses no social risk that warrants criminal prosecution.” said Eric E. Sterling, resident of Montgomery County and recently retired founding Executive Director of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation (1989-2020).

Local Baltimore rapper, ‘Henni The Stoner’, says he’s excited. “This is an opportunity to finally grow the one plant I love the most. I’m glad to see so many members of the community offering free education to new growers today and not depending on the government. People are being given the tools to grow this plant successfully. Learning to grow your own medicine is empowerment that can’t be taken away from us.” he said.

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MDMJ is dedicated to fighting for cannabis consumers, cultivators, workers, patients, and their families. MDMJ began lobbying in Maryland in 2018 to support passage of adult-use cannabis laws in the Free State. Since then, MDMJ has been active in Annapolis and across the state, educating the public and advocating for systemic changes in drug policy.

MDMJ backs full legalization, including releasing all cannabis prisoners, and the right to cultivate cannabis in the privacy and comfort of our homes, as well as reforming and filling harmful or outdated holes within the criminal justice system. The group was launched in Salisbury, Maryland in 2018, playing a pivotal role in key races on the Eastern Shore by supporting candidates that are friendly to cannabis legalization.

MDMJ is a sister organization of District of Columbia Marijuana Justice (DCMJ), Colorado Marijuana Justice (COMJ), Virginia Marijuana Justice (VAMJ), and New York Marijuana Justice (NYMJ).

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