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Denver Officials Say Many Home Marijuana Growers Still Not Following The Laws

DENVER (CBS4) - Authorities in Denver this week are reminding home marijuana growers that they need to follow the law. The police department says fewer people are being found in violation recently, but those that are, aside from a few "bad actors," usually explain to officers they aren't familiar with the city's pot laws.

marijuana (1)
(credit: City of Denver)

Cmdr. James Henning with Denver police has been dealing with enforcement of the department's pot policies since 2012 when the drug became legal.

"Since that time, as we've worked through all the issues with marijuana -- which we have solved countless issues with marijuana, I'm very happy to say -- one that has persisted has been home grows. Residential grows of marijuana and the issues surrounding that," he said on Thursday.

If you are a Denver resident between 18 and 21 and growing marijuana for medical reasons you need a valid registry card. If you're over 21, you can grow marijuana for recreational purposes without a license.

LINK: MarijuanaInfoDenver.Org

Plants are limited to no more than six per person and a maximum of 12 per household, and they must always be stored in a locked place. Growing pot outdoors in Denver is also illegal.

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(credit: City of Denver)

"And that's not just putting a lock on the fence in the backyard. It has to be a greenhouse. It has to be a solid structure that no one can get into unless they have access through that lock," said Ashley Kilroy, director of Denver's Office of Marijuana Policy.

It is also illegal for individuals to sell marijuana. If caught, residents could get anything from a city ticket all the way up to a felony, depending on the investigation.

"We don't want to see people get marijuana convictions. We'd rather them know the law and not get charged because we know that we've got a number of citizens who've been saddled with low-level marijuana convictions that have really negatively impacted their lives," Kilroy said.

Ashley Kilroy James Henning
Ashley Kilroy, left, and James Henning, right (credit: CBS)

There were several murders in the city in 2016 surrounding home grows, and according to Henning that led police to step up enforcement of the laws. There were 270 investigations made into unlawful grows in Denver in 2017 and that number dropped to 130 in 2018. Henning said none of those investigations last year included any sort of violent situation.

"We went from assaults and robberies and homicides at these home grows down to zero, so we're very proud of that," Henning said.

Still, he'd like to see the number of investigations into unlawful grows drop significantly this year and in upcoming years.

Denver police asked anyone who sees illegal marijuana operations to report it to them at 720-913-6060.

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