Pubdate: Tue, 24 Mar 2015
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2015 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Jon Murray

DENVER APPROVES POT PLANT LIMITS

The City Council Says Limiting Unlicensed Growers Is Necessary.

Dozens of unlicensed nonresidential marijuana growing collectives in 
Denver could be forced to shut down under a new 36-plant limit 
approved Monday night by the City Council.

City officials justify the new limit by pointing to documentation of 
unsafe conditions and fire hazards in facilities where they've 
noticed an "exponential increase" in cultivation of untracked 
marijuana. The unlicensed grows exist in the cracks of Colorado's 
marijuana legalization amendments; the ordinance also would apply to 
caregivers who grow a large number of plants.

City officials say they have identified more than 60 sites across the 
city that would be affected.

The ordinance, which passed 11-0 as part of a block vote, won't 
affect licensed commercial grow houses.

A Denver attorney who consults for medical marijuana businesses 
argues the new rules trample on patients' state constitutional rights.

Colorado allows residents to grow six plants at home, or 12 per 
household, unless a doctor recommends more.

Some medical marijuana patients need far more plants to supply enough 
cannabis oil for their treatments, attorney Warren Edson said.

And he said dispensaries can't always accommodate their needs, making 
collectives a better option. Dispensaries also are costlier for patients.

Dan Rowland, the spokesman for the city's marijuana policy office, 
says the hard 36-plant limit was picked because it mirrors state 
rules allowing caregivers to grow six plants each for five patients 
and themselves.

But Edson suggested the city regulate the collectives rather than 
apply such a severe restriction.

"Providing patients and consumers with commercially zoned lots, with 
proper build-out and security, would seem to both meet the city's 
concerns as well as allow the consumer, be it medicinal or 
recreational, to fulfill their own needs," Edson said.

City officials, however, say they can't regulate activity that isn't 
allowed under state laws implementing the voter-passed amendments, 
beyond following the plant limits for caregivers.

Attendees Monday included the family of Coltyn Turner, a 15-year-old 
with severe Crohn's disease.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom