Is a Michigan Medical Marijuana Caregiver's Grow Separate From the 12 Plants One Can Grow For Personal Use?

Michigan caregivers want to know whether they can grow their allowed number of plants plus the 12 permitted under the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act (MRTMA). This is an important question. Can a caregiver grow up to 72 plants plus have an additional 12 for recreational pursuant to the MRTMA?

Michigan Medical Marijuana Act Caregiver Cultivation

The Michigan Medical Marijuana Act provides that a caregiver possess up to 72 plants in an enclosed and locked facility. If that caregiver were to add any additional plants to that facility, the caregiver would no longer be permitted to use the medical marijuana act as a defense. The MMMA requires strict compliance with the act and adding more plants that what is permitted is not in strict compliance.

Personal Use Cultivation Under the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act

On the other hand, a caregiver is permitted to also be in possession of 12 recreational plants for personal use but only if there are no more than 12 marijuana plants total on the property. The MRTMA does not differentiate between 12 personal plants and medical plants. therefore, only 12 plants total are permitted per residence. This does not preclude a caregiver from possessing their allotted number of medical plants at another location including another home, which does not contain 12 personal plants, or an industrial building. A caregiver can possess up to 84 plants but the medical plants cannot be grown in the caregiver’s residence. Personal plants may only be grown in a person’s residence.

What is the penalty for a caregiver growing more than 72 plants?

If a caregiver were to be in possession of all 84 plants in their residence, as stated earlier, they would no longer be permitted to use the MMMA as a defense. Then what is the penalty under Michigan law? Section 15 of the MRTMA states that a person who cultivates more than twice the amount permitted (more than 24 plants) would be guilty of a misdemeanor but not subject to jail time unless they were grown for a commercial purpose. If purposefully and willfully grown for a commercial purpose the penalty is still a misdemeanor but it is then punishable by up to 93 days in jail.