Sen. Bolling’s limited home-cultivation plan for veterans’ relief fails to advance in committee

Sen. Bolling introduced a ‘Freedom to Farm’ proposal that would permit adults to cultivate a limited number of marijuana plants on private property under a state registration system with strict security and no commercial sales.

Bolling framed the bill as narrowly targeted: adults 21 and over, registration with the Department of Agriculture, a 15-plant limit with only five mature plants, bans on concentrates and commercial sales, criminal penalties for resin extraction, and a fee structure intended to generate registration revenue earmarked for property-tax relief for 100% disabled veterans.

Committee members offered mixed responses. Vice Chair Lowe praised the effort to craft a framework but stressed the lack of a reliable roadside test for marijuana impairment and flagged workplace and traffic-safety concerns until such a test exists. Other members said they supported further comprehensive approaches and cautioned that private-cultivation rules must be tightly enforced.

After closing remarks, the committee did not advance the bill: the clerk recorded 3 ayes, 4 noes and 2 passes, and the bill remained in committee.

Next steps: sponsor said he would continue outreach and emphasized the bill’s veterans’ property-tax relief funding mechanism, but no committee advancement was recorded.