Six Plants

tet1953

Well-Known Member
Wondering what your understanding is of the new law as it relates to the six plants. The way I read it, we can pretty much have as many as we want in veg.

There is no definition for "marijuana plant" in the statute, only in the adopted rules. In there, it says:

1.17. Marijuana plant. Marijuana plant means a harvestable female marijuana plant that is flowering and is greater than twelve inches in height and twelve inches in diameter.
I take that to mean that we can have all we want in veg. Otherwise, where do they expect the plants to come from before they are in the defined state? There is no mention of any other plants anywhere. What's your take?
 

sweetleaf76

Well-Known Member
I am following this also. As long as I only have 6 flowering I feel the seedlings, mothers, and vegging plants would fall under the "incidental amount" category. The cops might not see it that way, but I'd take it to court and hope the judge would. My patient friend said his doctor"s office told him you can have up to 99, as long as only 6 are flowering. Anything over 99 is a federal felony and out of the state's legal jurisdiction. I flower 2 batches of 3 plants at a time, 5 weeks apart so I harvest almost monthly. I have a cabinet that has my Mother, seedlings, and vegging plants waiting to go into the cycle. I was real glad when the state defined a medical marijuana plant as "mature and harvestable". It took a lot of stress off the numbers and how I was going to make this work for me.
 

Pipe Dream

Well-Known Member
That's awesome and it even specifies female plant so you can easily make your own seeds. Here in CO we are allowed 6 plants and only three are to be in flowering.
 

tet1953

Well-Known Member
Another interesting aspect of the new law that I noticed is how they define other things, like tincture. As far as I can tell, if you decided to make hash with your weed or trim it would be considered a tincture. There is no differentiation between tincture and weed regarding allowable weight. Conceivably you could have 2-1/2 ounces of hash instead of weed. Anyone disagree?
 

seasmoke

Active Member
I interpret this the same way. So for me, with three patients, i'm flowering 6 every three weeks(2 per patient), but have many in different stages of veg.
 

Maine Brookies

Active Member
Another interesting aspect of the new law that I noticed is how they define other things, like tincture. As far as I can tell, if you decided to make hash with your weed or trim it would be considered a tincture. There is no differentiation between tincture and weed regarding allowable weight. Conceivably you could have 2-1/2 ounces of hash instead of weed. Anyone disagree?
According Maine DHHS, your interpretation is incorrect. A judge may not agree with DHHS's interpretation but it's a pretty risky proposition in court.

"Question: Hashish and kief are products derived from the marijuana plant that are highly effective for treating a number of conditions and symptoms of patients and are used in other jurisdictions that also have medical marijuana laws. However, section 1.15.1 of the rules states that marijuana does not include the resin extracted from any part of the plant, and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation from the resin, including hashish. Does this mean that hashish and similarly, kief, are outside the scope of these regulations and cannot be provided by dispensaries, caregivers, and the patients themselves. Response: The rules only apply to the marijuana as defined. The rules do not attempt to interpret other laws of the state of Maine pertaining to hashish or kief."


and also



"Question: Are tinctures considered under food preparation?
Response: Anything that is to be ingested is considered in this category"


http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/dlrs/mmm/mmma-faq.shtml
 

Philipea

Active Member
Many people find that rule 1.15.1 conflicts with the contents of rule 1.28 and you may want to look at that and word it differently. 1.15.1 says that extracted resin is not marijuana it goes on to say this includes hash. However 1.28 says that tinctures, ointments and other products made from flowers and leaves of the plant are legal. Tinctures are made from the resin, and according to 1.15.1 that is illegal. I have argued the state was not intending in 1.15.1 to make has illegal, but simply using it to describe what marijuana is and is not. Paragraph 1.28 describes what “prepared marijuana” is, and there is a difference. Is clarity needed? Response + Response: You asked whether clarity was needed with regard to the description of marijuana versus prepared marijuana. The response is as follows:

  • Marijuana has a statutory meaning within the law that goes above and beyond the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Act. This Act regulates the amount of usable marijuana that can be possessed.
  • The statute defines “usable marijuana” as either 2 ½ ounces or less of prepared marijuana, and a total of 6 plants, to be defined by DHHS. It excluded incidental amounts of seeds, stalks and roots that are not calculated in the allowable amounts of marijuana that may be possessed.
  • DHHS defined a plant as one which is a harvestable female marijuana plant that is flowering and is greater than twelve inches in height and twelve inches in diameter.
  • The statute defines “prepared marijuana” as the dried leaves and flowers of the plant, and any mixture or preparation of those dried leaves and flowers, including but not limited to tinctures, ointments and other preparations, but does not include the seeds, stalks and roots of the plant and does not include the ingredients, other than marijuana, in tinctures, ointments or other preparations that include marijuana as an ingredient or food or drink prepared with marijuana as an ingredient for human consumptions.
  • If you believe this requires additional clarification, please feel to comment with suggestions on the proposed rules.
 

Philipea

Active Member
so, hash is considered prepared marijuana. Phew, you got me concerned, because my patients are really interested in bubble hash.
 

Maine Brookies

Active Member
so, hash is considered prepared marijuana. Phew, you got me concerned, because my patients are really interested in bubble hash.
That's simply not a cohesive argument. Bureaucrats cannot just override legislated laws in the rulemaking process (and that's really a good thing). Any hash you make will be strictly outside the scope of your practice as a caregiver.
 

tet1953

Well-Known Member
The question regarding hash and/or tictures will ultimately be answered in court most likely. Definitely not by us on this forum lol. But for discussion, section 1.28 defines prepared marijuana. I'm sure you've read it. Now, the hash I am talking about is simply taking dried leaves/buds and rinsing them with water. I collect the runoff. (I'm sure you know this also). How does that not fit the definition?

IMHO, the definitions in the adopted rules allow for the substance I call hash, other statutes in Maine law notwithstanding. It has already been demonstrated that other aspects of marijuana culture (paraphenalia, etc) which are generally illegal are permissible under the Maine Medical Use Of Marijuana Act. It isn't a stretch to say that this substance I prepare with dried marijuana leaves (and nothing but dried marijuana leaves) is a tincture or "other preparation" under the definition:
1.28 Prepared marijuana. Prepared marijuana means the dried leaves and flowers of the marijuana plant, and any mixture or preparation of those dried leaves and flowers, including but not limited to tinctures, ointments, and other preparations. It does not include the seeds, stalks and roots of the marijuana or other ingredients in goods prepared for human consumption.
I think that part about good prepared for human consumption simply means that other ingredients in food items won't be considered for the weight of the marijuana.

Again, I do not profess to have the answers here, only discussion points.
 

seasmoke

Active Member
ok.....now what about the plants in veg state? And at what point is defined "useable"? The moment buds start to show? When there are "some" buds growing? How or when are the lines crossed? Are they going to let plants fully mature before they are considered? What i'm asking is- are we allowed to have a perpetual grow?
 

tet1953

Well-Known Member
I interpret it this way: We can have six (female) plants in flower. These plants have to come from somewhere before they are mature, but the law doesn't address it. Nor does it (the new law) consider such non-flowering plants to be marijuana plants, according to the definition. So, you can have as many as you want of such plants, up to a point. That point, generally agreed by most people I talk to, is 99 plants. That number is not mentioned in the new law anywhere, however I believe it is the number where you reach a felony level of cultivation. Such an operation could clearly be called a commercial enterprise, and not one for personal, medical purposes.

A perpetual grow is what I do. Have a bunch in veg, and every few weeks harvest a couple and move a couple more into flower.
 

seasmoke

Active Member
me too...and there is this "lock up" that they want. As I see it, I can veg outside, anytime, as long as they are not budding. They are forcing us to use inside lights for bud...??
 
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