STRICT REGULATIONS
Lawmakers in Douglas County have set an extremely restricting ordinance for residential cannabis cultivation in the county. In early August, Douglas County commissioners passed an ordinance to limit the number of plants that can be grown in a primary residence to 12 total and at six plants per patient. Further, the ordinance prohibits outdoor grows completely and does not allow cannabis cultivation in residential rental properties by tenants, unless the tenants receive permission from the property owner.
Further, the ordinance states that cannabis grows are only permitted in one designated space per plot that is no more than 1,000 cubic feet. The grow must be contained in a locked, enclosed space. If the locked space is attached to a home, then the house must sit on at least one acre of property. The ordinance also makes it illegal to use compressed flammable gas like butane for cannabis grows.
Chief Deputy Steve Johnson of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department has shared reasons why the department believes grow operations are bad for Douglas County. In a release from the Douglas County Sheriff Department in Colorado, Chief Deputy Johnson said, “We have a public safety issue that we believe this ordinance will help us address. Safety concerns associated with home-grown marijuana include fires resulting from improper modifications to electrical systems, chemicals or butane gas stored without proper ventilation, as well as risks of robbery and home invasion,” Johnson said.
“Before the Douglas County ordinance was enacted, there was hardly anything we could do. Now we feel we have found the balance and still are respectful to people’s rights according to Amendment 20 and 64.”
CULTURE inquired about why the department supported the new ordinance with Chief Deputy Johnson. “The loopholes in Colorado’s laws governing marijuana have made it attractive for people in Colorado to set up residential grow operations under the ruse of having a medical marijuana license with an elevated plant count,” Chief Deputy Johnson said. “Before the Douglas County ordinance was enacted, there was hardly anything we could do. Now we feel we have found the balance and still are respectful to people’s rights according to Amendment 20 and 64.”
After four Colorado doctors recently faced disciplinary action for over-prescribing a high number of cannabis plants that their patients could grow, which was up to 501 plants in one case, it doesn’t come as a surprise that many counties are cracking down on at-home cannabis cultivation. However, in a county where medical cannabis dispensaries are not permitted, growing cannabis at home is the only way many patients are able to get access to the medicine they need. These strict cultivation guidelines set out by Douglas County will make it really hard for patients to obtain medical cannabis.
While the limiting of the plant count to 12 may not prove to be detrimental to the care of patients who own homes on at least one acre of land and do not need to convert plants into concentrates, not allowing outdoor cultivation or cannabis grows in residential rental property could do harm to patients who are not home owners. Even home owners whose houses sit on less than one acre of land will not be allowed to grow cannabis in their residences. Patients should not have to turn to the black market to obtain medicine that they desperately need. Violators of this new ordinance could face a fine of up to $1,000.
