AMHERST — Autumn is harvest time, and Phill Lamson’s flowers are in full bloom.
Their pungent smell and evocative names — Blue Dream, Gorilla Glue #4, Blue Cheese, Indiana Bubblegum and his very own crossbreed, GRODD The Incredible — are a dead giveaway to anyone wanting to know what crop he is excited about this fall.
Lamson is one of an unknown, though by all accounts large number of Pioneer Valley residents hauling in their first legal, outdoor cannabis yields after Massachusetts voters approved the legalization of recreational marijuana almost a year ago. He’s also one of many longtime growers hoping to use their green thumbs and knowledge to break into the budding industry.
“I’d love to become one of the first legal or registered seed dealers when that’s allowed,” said the Amherst resident, who has been growing marijuana for around 30 years.
Lamson’s company is called The Grumpy Giant, which is fitting given that he stands just under 7 feet tall. Lamson has traveled across the country to gather different strains that he hopes to sell as his “magik beanz.”
Before he can do that, however, Lamson must wait for the state’s Cannabis Control Commission to issue the regulations to govern the recreational marijuana industry.
Many like Lamson are hoping the commission will create low barriers to entry for craft and small-scale operations outdoors, where they say it is cheaper and more environmentally friendly to cultivate, and where better quality bud is grown.
“I’d really like to see co-ops come into place and take root here, similar to what happened in the dairy industry up in Vermont,” said Bill St. Croix, a livestock farmer in Ware, adding that he’s particularly worried that regulations will leave aside farmers in favor of massive corporations. “It needs to not be taken out of the hands of local economies.”
A primary reason larger companies have dominated the state’s medical marijuana industry since its legalization in 2012 are the steep financial barriers for entry. Farmers must pay more than $30,000 in licensing fees, have another $250,000 in the bank and have to have vertically integrated operations so their marijuana can be tracked.
State law has also required commercial marijuana to be cultivated in “locked, limited access areas,” which many interpret as indoor grow rooms and not fenced-off plots of land. Currently, all of the state’s medical marijuana is grown indoors under lights.
The system has benefited large companies, which will likely be the first to apply for recreational licenses. Under state law, those “with the most experience operating medical marijuana treatment centers” will be issued licenses first, and only after that will licenses be distributed by lottery to qualified applicants.
However, Steven Hoffman, the chairman of the Cannabis Control Commission, said this week that one focus of that body’s work will be to encourage small-scale cultivation, though there are no guidelines in the law for how to do that, or metrics with which to measure success.
“It’s legislatively mandated that we encourage craft cultivation,” Hoffman said.
While they wait for the commission to set the regulations, which are expected to be in place by mid-March before recreational marijuana sales begin in July, Lamson and others are legally allowed to grow marijuana for personal cultivation.
The law, which also applies to marijuana establishments, requires that plants not be visible from a public place “without the use of binoculars, aircraft or other optical aids,” and must be inside a secured area. People can grow a maximum of 12 plants in their household, or six per person.
Northampton-based medical marijuana advocate and consultant Ezra Parzybok said conditions on where and how the plant can be grown are stricter than some homegrowers may realize.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of otherwise law-abiding citizens who aren’t in complete compliance,” Parzybok said.
Under Parzybok’s interpretation of those rules, he said he only knows of one outdoor grower who is in full compliance with the law.
Despite those restrictions, many have nevertheless begun cultivating their own plants following voters’ November decision to legalize marijuana.
“I would guesstimate there are as many as eight to 10 times as many growers doing it now as were doing it before illegally,” said Peter Bernhard, director and president of The Massachusetts Grower Advocacy Council. “There are a lot of them.”
One of those growing small amounts for personal use is Marty Klein, an Easthampton-based land conservation activist and marijuana educator. At 68, Klein said he has been growing marijuana on-and-off for more than 35 years as an “outlaw.”
“It was pretty liberating to finally be able to legally grow plants and not have to keep them 2-feet tall,” he said, laughing. “I don’t have to be paranoid about this and I can actually grow my plants to their full potential.”
Like many, Klein grows only for his own personal use. He’s hoping one of the stronger strains he grew will help alleviate his severe back pain.
In February, Klein decided to put his experience to use by giving a talk on growing medical-grade cannabis. Around 40 people attended the session, including many hoping to grow for the first time. Since that presentation, Klein has continued to get questions from those taking advantage of the state’s new laws.
“I’ve been contacted by a lot of first-time growers, and I have plenty of advice for them,” he said. His biggest piece of wisdom: “to be really careful about mold on their buds that they’re harvesting.”
Because of a rainy July and August, even Klein had to get rid of as much as half of his own harvest. “It’s really bad health-wise,” he said of the toxic molds.
Lamson, the aspiring seed distributor, has also been giving lots of advice to new growers. He said he is the administrator of several Facebook groups in which cannabis growers help each other, and that membership in his national- and Massachusetts-focused groups has exploded.
Whether or not he’s able to break into the industry, he said it’s an exciting time for old hands like himself as well as newcomers, all able to now grow legally.
“My greatest pleasure is the look on a first-time grower’s face when they grow their first medicine,” Lamson said, the smell of ripe buds hanging thick in the air.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.