Background: In jurisdictions that have already legalised cannabis only 62% of domestic growers indicated in a global survey that their grows were compliant with the law. Research is needed to design a cannabis regulatory environment that would encourage higher levels of compliance with the law.

Objective: To study the policy preferences of domestic cannabis growers regarding cannabis production under a (hypothetical) legal cannabis model.

Method: We surveyed 11,479 small-scale cannabis growers (ICCQ V2) from 2020 to 2021. We analysed (descriptive statistics, regressions and cluster analysis) a subsample of 6,296 respondents who lived in 13 jurisdictions that had not legalised recreational cannabis (at the time) and one jurisdiction that had legalised recreational cannabis using R.

Results: Growers’ preferred policy would allow for unlicensed private grows of cannabis by adults, while selling cannabis would necessitate a license (59%). Paid employment was associated with increased support for this policy (63%). Lower levels of support for this policy were associated with selling own-grown cannabis (46%) and contact with police for cannabis cultivation (48%). Growers indicated that large pricing gaps between a legal and black-market cannabis price increased the likelihood of illegal growing activity.
Conclusion: An inclusive regulatory model that allowed for private domestic grows of cannabis, alongside legal cannabis sold at a price that is not substantially higher than black-market cannabis, would likely be met by high levels of compliance by people who are currently growing their own cannabis and not involved in distribution.