Hydroponic gardening has a bit of an undeserved bad reputation. This is because it gives gardeners the capacity to grow plants in the privacy of their own home. There is nothing innately illicit about hydroponic gardening; its reputation is smeared solely because hydroponics can be used illicitly by virtue of its conceal-ability. Being concealable, hydroponic growth setups can easily be used to grow cannabis, more popularly known as marijuana, a drug that is illegal to grow or use in most countries.
In order to understand the legal issues that could arise from hydroponics, it is useful to understand hydroponics in principle. Hydroponics is the method of growing plants without the use of soil. It uses ordinary materials and common gardening methods that, while sometimes high tech, have basically been in use for decades. Hydroponics techniques can be used indoors or out, and thus are suitable for apartment dwellers.
The five things a plant needs to live are water, nutrients, oxygen and carbon dioxide. When gardening indoors, whoever, almost by definition you will not have the benefit of the sun. Without the sun you will have to find some way to get plants the light they need In order to perform photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the most basic process by which plants survive. It is the conversion, in short, of light into energy. Therefore, light is one of the most crucial ingredients in plant growth. This problem is solved through the use of growth lights.
Given that this technology allows you to grow plants indoors, and given the secrecy involved, it is not surprising that hydroponic gardening has a reputation for being the preferred method of stoners. There is no way of knowing how much marijuana is grown secretly indoors, or what percentage of non-commercial hydroponic equipment is used to grow marijuana, although it is very likely a large segment of the market for hydroponic equipment.
Given the fact that hydroponics has far, far more legitimate uses than illicit uses, it is not surprising that hydroponic equipment is perfectly legal to buy and to own. Merchants who sell hydroponic equipment are forced to constantly defend their business because of the stigma attached to it through its popularity with stoners. It is in no way illegal to grow plants hydroponically, however—unless you choose to grow marijuana or other illicit plant substances. Otherwise, the only legal issue that could potentially arise is any fire code violations that could be incurred by the use of the equipment, particularly the lights.
Some manufacturers, however, tolerate the use of their equipment for the illegal growing of drugs, and even tacitly acknowledge this use. For example, how many advertisements for hydroponic equipment would you expect to see in High Times magazine? A lot. You can’t sell marijuana, you can’t sell seeds, but you can sell equipment.
The bottom line, however, is this: it is perfectly legal to own and use hydroponic equipment. It is not legal in most countries to grow marijuana by any method. Some governments are looking into regulating hydroponic gardening equipment the way that liquor stores and pawnshops are regulated, but this hasn’t happened yet. In short, hydroponics is legal, marijuana isn’t.
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