You'll want to visit the site below, Stingray, to refer to the laws in California. If you don't have whatever sort of certification or license you need to be a medical provider and don't have a prescription to use it for a medical condition, cultivation looks like it'd be bad news: a felony punishable by a jail term. If the plants were out of the ground, you'll notice, it depends on what sort of weight you get caught with.

State By State Laws - NORML
California - NORML (California penalties table)