Hey guys, I've been trying to figure out on the NORML site where it says that X amount of plants will be a misdemeanor while Y amount of plants is a felony. For my own security reasons, I don't want to give the state that I'm in, but NORML has this listed in their website:

Possession........................................ Incarceration ........... Fine
1/2 oz or less ................................... misdemeanor .... 30 days .... $200
1/2 to 1 1/2 oz ................................. misdemeanor .. 1-120 days .. $500
More than 1 1/2 oz ........................... felony .... up to 12 months .... Discret.

Sale or Cultivation ............................ Incarceration ................... Fine
Less than 5 g ................................... see Possession
Up to 10 lbs ..................................... felony .... up to 12 months .. $5,000

So as far as I can tell, cultivation of less than 5 g would be a misdemeanor? Anyone know how much this is? I'm trying to grow for personal reasons, but would like to know if the cut off between federal crime and misdemeanor is like 5 plants, or what. Any help would be appreciated.

Even if you get busted cultivating less than 10 pounds they will still hit you with possession: more than 1.5 oz.

If you're really serious about it then you need to look up the law for your state. Just google: "state name here" revised statutes -- then look within them for Cannabis or marijuana.

Based on the snippet you listed it looks like if you are caught growing more than 1.5 oz of cannabis then they could charge the offense as a felony. What isn't clear is whether the plant, the dried product, or both go towards that 1.5 oz weight limit. This is not naturally clear from the wording you have listed here and would require additional legal research.

Basically, even if you had a setup with one small plant where there is no reasonable way that you could produce 1.5 oz of dried finished product in a growing cycle, the prosecutor may be able to use the weight of the plant itself (stems, stalks, leaves) in reaching the calculation that you've violated the 1.5 oz limit and earned yourself a felony charge. You could buy an hour of time from a criminal lawyer and ask him his opinion though.

It looks like less than 5g would equal possession but most likely they would weigh every part of the plant including the rootball.

So really what I should gather is growing any plants at all would be considered a felony, right?

if those are truely your states guidelines then yes 1 plant is gonna be over 5g
your best bet is to stay under 15 or so plant, keep no scale or any other things that would make it seem you are selling. so you can claim personal use which carries much less sentence than manufacturing for sale

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That's what I had planned, but wasn't sure of exactly what number to go with. I'll probably try to keep it under 8-10.

A cop here TOLD me to grow 11 plants, and to keep less than 1/2 lb of trimmed medication on-site. NO PROBLEM OFFICER!

They can't count the root ball as medication. It's not medication until it's finished, trimmed and cured. Until then, it counts as "1 mature plant". You're allowed to have 12 (here) and size doesn't matter. Then number of babies allowed is separate and pretty high.

Since we don't know what state your in it's hard to tell you exactly how many to grow, but since most states have commonalities with federal law as far as how much you are charged with per plant. In the feds every plant is counted as 100 g whether it is female, male, or a little bitty clone until that plant weighs more than 100g then the actual weight is used. Most states use this criteria too for figuring weight of plants. The federal sentencing guidelines use a point system to figure sentences. Check out this link http://www.ussc.gov/2007guid/GL2007.pdf and look at page 138 and this shows the drug quantity table and what point level you will be at per weight of substance. This table starts at the highest point level and ends at the lowest point level, so you'll probably want to move down to the top of page 144. Weight is figured using the metric system so if you grow 10 plants at 100 grams a plant you would be at 1 kg (1000 grams), so head up the table till you see level 10 at the right that will be your base offense level for 10 plants. Now head to page 392 and look at offense level 10 and if you don't have a criminal record look in column one and you will see 6-12 months as the guideline suggests for sentencing. If you look at offense level 8 you can see the sentence is only 0-6 months and by growing just one less plant you drop into this offense level and save yourself from doing some time. This offense level is only a base though and can be adjusted up or down. For instance if a firearm is found on the property with drugs they can give you a 2 point enhancement which is added to your base offense level. There are a lot of ways to go up in points and very few that will help you go down. The biggest point reduction you get without ratting someone out is when you plead guilty they call this acceptance of responsibility and will drop 2 points from your offense level and if you do this in a timely manner you get another point dropped off your offense level. This is one of the major reasons that the feds have such a high conviction rate because by pleading guilty quickly drops 3 points from you offense level and thus puts you in a lower offense level for sentencing. This is not true if you are sentenced under a mandatory minimum and for growing ganja the first mandatory minimum is for 100 plants or more and that means you will do no less than 5 years the next mandatory minimum is for 1000 plants or more and for that you will do at least 10 years. About the only way to get less time when sentenced under the mandatory minimums is by snitching on others. So for an example lets say you have 24 plants this puts you at offense level 10 and if you plead guilty in a timely manner and get 3 points knocked off then you will be sentenced under offense level 7 guidlines and will get anywhere from probation to 6 months. If though you give them reasons to increase your level like having a gun, being near a school, having minors involved, etc. then your offense level will be increased along with your sentence. Remember don't do the crime unless your willing to do the time.

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"It does the sheep no good to preach the goodness of a diet of grass, if the wolves are of a different mind"

"don't do the crime unless your willing to do the time."

I appreciate knowing how much time I may be risking. It's one thing to know it's illegal, but HOW illegal is an important variable. I like the 0-6 month range! I'll try to stick close to that.