California Health and Safety Code 11358 Cultivating Marijuana
Pursuant to California Health and Safety Code 11358, individuals who are 21 and older can not only use marijuana recreationally, but they can also legally cultivate and grow their own marijuana plants. These new freedoms come with restrictions and regulations built into the very laws that grant their legal status, effectively limiting the amount of marijuana that one can legally own or cultivate for personal use.
These limitations are designed to prevent excessive amounts from being created and distributed. Understanding these complex laws is a feat in itself, but being aware of them is important to all consumers of marijuana. In what follows, we break these laws down for you as simply as we can.
What Does Cultivating Mean?
There are legal definitions and restrictions when using the word ‘cultivate’ as referring to “growing of marijuana plants“. The word ‘cultivate’ in legal contexts is a bit more broad than one may think. Legally speaking the term cultivate can mean any or all of the following:
- To plant;
- To grow;
- To dry;
- To water;
- To nurture;
- To process;
- To care for;
- To harvest; or
- To cultivate any marijuana plant or any of its parts
Violations of Marijuana Health and Safety Code 11358
Most violations of Health and Safety Code 11358 will be considered drug crime misdemeanor. The punishments for violating Marijuana Health and Safety Code 11358 may include:
- Serving a maximum of 6 months in county jail, and/or
- Being fined no more than $500.
A violation of HS 11358 may have more severe consequences if:
- You have been convicted of any violent felonies or crimes in the past,
- You are a registered sex offender,
- You have 2 or more previous convictions for cultivating or growing more than the legal limit of 6 marijuana plants, and/or
- You violated other California environmental laws or ordinances while cultivating marijuana.
In these situation, you would instead be convicted of a felony and you could be sentenced up to 3 years in county jail and be fined a maximum fine of $10,000.
Los Angeles Marijuana Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been accused of violating California Health and Safety Code 11358, or any marijuana law, we invite you to give us a call at (213) 248-6784 and speak to a skilled Los Angeles marijuana defense lawyer for a free and confidential consultation today.