If Canada follows the path of most U.S. states that have legalized marijuana, we’ll be allowed to grow a moderate number of plants at home.
Another potentially delicate problem is selling your house.
As the seller, how much do you have to disclose about the marijuana plants that you whisked out of sight for the open house? Different provinces have different rules.
The Real Estate Council of British Columbia recommends that selling agents encourage their clients to disclose in writing that a property has been used to grow pot, even if the grow was one of the legal and quite small ones that medical marijuana users are allowed.
“While marijuana for medical purposes may be grown legally with the necessary licence, the possibility remains that its growth could result in a property defect,” spokesperson Marilee Peters wrote in an email.
“If a property has been used for activities such as a marijuana grow-op and the property has not been properly restored, a material latent defect may exist in the form of toxic hazards that cannot be discovered on a reasonable examination of the property.”
READ: Why home marijuana cultivation will be a headache for regulators
What might a legal home grow look like?
Colorado allows residents to grow up to six marijuana plants each, of which half can be flowering at any given time. There is no state-level restriction on the total number of plants. Unless local bylaws ban it (some do), a household of four adults can legally grow two dozen marijuana plants.
And those plants can be huge. Home growers in states like Oregon and Colorado have been known to grow enormous plants to maximize production within the rules.
So, depending on what Canada’s rules turn out to be, Canadians could be able to run a fairly serious home grow op while also staying completely on the right side of the law.
