Can I grow my own if I have a prescription in the ACT?

What the law actually says

Drugs of Dependence Act 1989 (ACT), Republication No 42, effective 16 November 2025; and the Criminal Code 2002 (ACT), Republication No 58, effective 23 February 2026.

The allowance is written as an offence with the adult carved out of it. s 162 of the Drugs of Dependence Act 1989: “A person commits an offence if the person cultivates 1 or 2 cannabis plants”, maximum penalty 1 penalty unit — and then “(2) This section does not apply if the person — (a) is 18 years old or older; and (b) cultivates the plants in the ACT.” So an adult growing one or two plants in the ACT is outside the section.

Hydroponics and artificial light are outside the allowance. s 162(3) defines cultivates by reference to Criminal Code s 615 “but does not include artificially cultivate”, and artificially cultivate means “hydroponically cultivate” or “cultivate with the application of an artificial source of light or heat”. Criminal Code 2002 s 618(2) then makes it a separate offence to cultivate three or more cannabis plants, or to artificially cultivate one or two — 200 penalty units, imprisonment for 2 years, or both. The Code even carries a note pointing back: “Non-artificial cultivation of 1 or 2 cannabis plants is a summary offence under the Drugs of Dependence Act 1989, s 162.”

Four plants per address, not per person. s 171AAA: an offence if a person cultivates a cannabis plant at premises and “more than 4 cannabis plants are being cultivated at the premises”, with strict liability on the count. A resident who did not know and could not reasonably have been expected to know has a defence, but must prove it.

It only covers where you live, and not anywhere public. s 171AAB: separate offences for cultivating a cannabis plant “at a place other than where the person lives”, and for cultivating one “in an area lawfully accessible to a member of the public”. This is the provision that matters most to a renter or a share-house: the allowance follows your residence, not your plants.

And the harvest has to be stored safely. s 171AAC: an offence to possess harvested cannabis and not store it out of reach of children.

None of this turns on a prescription. Where the ACT does look at prescriptions, it says so expressly and only about possession: s 171AA(4) disapplies the cannabis possession offences for a person authorised under the Medicines, Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 2008 or another territory law to possess the cannabis, and s 169(3) does the same for drugs of dependence. There is no equivalent subsection in s 162, s 171AAA or s 171AAB. The cultivation allowance is the general adult one, and the patient authorisation is about possession.

Territory law does not repeal Commonwealth law, and the Commonwealth says so in terms. s 300.4(1) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth): “This Part is not intended to exclude or limit the concurrent operation of any law of a State or Territory.” s 300.4(3) then removes the argument a reader might hope for — the concurrent operation continues “even if” the State or Territory law “(c) provides for a defence in relation to the offence that differs from the defences applicable to the offence under this Part.” The ACT's allowance is exactly such a defence. It answers the territory offence. It does not answer a Commonwealth charge.

So the real question is which Commonwealth offences a home grower could be exposed to, and the answer is narrower than the argument usually suggests.

Cultivation: no. Every cultivation offence in the Code is in Division 303, headed Commercial cultivation of controlled plants, and every one of them requires that the person “cultivates a plant for a commercial purpose” — s 303.4, s 303.5 and s 303.6. s 303.3 defines that as cultivating “(a) with the intention of selling any of it or its products; or (b) believing that another person intends to sell any of it or its products.” There is no Commonwealth offence of simple non-commercial cultivation. Somebody growing two plants for their own use is outside Division 303 altogether.

And the presumption that might have caught them does not reach. s 303.7 deems a commercial purpose where a person cultivates a trafficable quantity, unless they prove otherwise. Under the Criminal Code Regulations 2019 the trafficable quantity for any plant of the genus Cannabis is 250 g or 10 plants. The ACT's own cap is four plants per premises, so a grow that complies with the territory scheme sits below the federal threshold and the presumption never engages.

Possession: yes, and this is the real exposure. s 308.1(1): “A person commits an offence if: (a) the person possesses a substance; and (b) the substance is a controlled drug…” There is no commercial element and no quantity threshold. Cannabis in any form is a controlled drug — Schedule 1, item 50 of the Regulations. Harvest your two lawful ACT plants and you possess a controlled drug, and s 300.4 means the territory allowance does not answer it.

One thing in the Commonwealth's favour. s 308.1(3) provides that a person charged with or convicted of that offence in a State or Territory “may be tried, punished or otherwise dealt with as if the offence were an offence against the law of the State or Territory that involved the possession or use of a controlled drug”, and the Act's own note explains why: “Subsection (3) allows for drug users to be diverted from the criminal justice system to receive the same education, treatment and support that is available in relation to drug offences under State and Territory laws.” s 308.1(4) caps any such penalty at the Commonwealth maximum.

None of this is a prediction about whether anyone will be charged. It is what the instruments say, which is the part that does not change with policy.

What happens if it goes wrong

Territory penalties, read off the two ACT instruments:

• Drugs of Dependence Act 1989 s 162, cultivating 1 or 2 plants where the adult exception does not apply: 1 penalty unit.
• s 171AAA, more than 4 plants at the premises: 50 penalty units, 2 years, or both.
• s 171AAB, cultivating away from where you live, or somewhere the public can lawfully get to: 50 penalty units, 2 years, or both.
• s 171AAC, harvested cannabis not stored out of reach of children: 50 penalty units, 2 years, or both.
• Criminal Code 2002 s 618(2), three or more plants, or one or two grown hydroponically or under artificial light or heat: 200 penalty units, 2 years, or both.
• Criminal Code 2002 s 616(8), cultivating a cannabis plant intending to sell it or believing someone else will: 300 penalty units, 3 years, or both, rising steeply with quantity.

Commonwealth penalties, from the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth):

• s 308.1(1), possessing a controlled drug: 2 years or 400 penalty units, or both — subject to the diversion provision in s 308.1(3) and the cap in s 308.1(4).
• s 303.6(1), cultivating a controlled plant for a commercial purpose: 10 years or 2,000 penalty units, or both, rising to life at a commercial quantity under s 303.4. A personal-use grow does not engage these.

The dollar value of an ACT penalty unit is set under the Legislation Act 2001 (ACT) and the Commonwealth unit under the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth); both change, so read the current figures rather than converting from this page.