First, you need to understand that the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp, is the roots of legal personal grow operations.
Any cannabis that contains less than 0.3% THC is legal, which makes all cannabis seeds legal under federal law. Even seeds that produce high-potency cannabis are below the threshold to be federally illegal.
Under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), someone who obtains a controlled substance from a lawful source is exempt from registration with the DEA. Since a person is getting the seed for their cannabis from a legal source, the DEA has nothing for you to fill out or any registration to give you. You are already exempt.
The key is that you do not conduct any commerce with your cannabis. Again, under federal laws and regulations, those in your household are also exempt.
21 USC 822 is the key chapter. Who has to register?
(1) Every person who manufactures or distributes any controlled substance or list I chemical, or who proposes to engage in the manufacture or distribution of any controlled substance or list I chemical, shall obtain annually a registration issued by the Attorney General in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by him.
(2) Every person who dispenses, or who proposes to dispense, any controlled substance, shall obtain from the Attorney General a registration issued in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by him. The Attorney General shall, by regulation, determine the period of such registrations. In no event, however, shall such registrations be issued for less than one year nor for more than three year.
There are exceptions but notice that it’s people involved in “commercial” activity that are required to register.
Under 822(d), “The Attorney General may, by regulation, waive the requirement for registration of certain manufacturers, distributors, or dispensers if he finds it consistent with the public health and safety.” This is of course for those that wish to distribute their substance or conduct activities that involve distribution to someone else. Those that do not fall into a different category.
21USC822(c) “Exceptions – The following persons shall not be required to register and may lawfully possess any controlled substance or list I chemical under this subchapter:
- (3) An ultimate user who possesses such substance for a purpose specified in section 802(27) of this title
So we go to 802(27) and find:
- (27) The term “ultimate user” means a person who has lawfully obtained, and who possesses, a controlled substance for his own use or for the use of a member of his household or for an animal owned by him or by a member of his household.”
So, if you bought seeds legally and lawfully, you are the ultimate user, or one of your household members is. This makes your cannabis, grown by you and consumed by you or your family member, totally legal under federal law.
Now your State may restrict the growing in certain manners but the Federal government is out of your business.