Ask a Stoner: Do I Have Too Many Plants?

Dear Stoner: Someone recently told me that I have too many plants in my basement grow. I live with two other adults in Five Points and have twelve plants locked up downstairs. I’m good, right?
The Cheese

Dear Cheese: Colorado law allows adults 21 and over to grow up to six plants in their homes, and if you have two or more adults in the house, then you can grow twelve if the plants are for more than one of the residents. Denver still abides by that rule, but not all towns do. Your friend might live in a nearby town, like Centennial or Aurora, that has different rules and limits on residential growing. Although cultivating cannabis in your own home is allowed in the state constitution, the amendment that legalized it also gave municipalities the right to change those rules, just as they have the right to ban dispensaries. Your friend might also be under the impression that all twelve are for you, which is technically illegal. But as long as one of your roommates will lay claim to half of the crop, then you’re in the clear. Just make sure that any inquiring police officer is aware of that, too.

And enjoy it while it lasts. Earlier this month, Governor John Hickenlooper talked about his concerns over the “grey market” in Colorado, referring to people who sell their homegrown pot or illegally grow more than the state limit. The guv recently asked lawmakers to set aside around $16 million in the state budget for law enforcement and investigations into the grey market, and his administration is considering tightening regulations on home grows and plant counts.

Dear Stoner: Once these spots start having pot-smoking sections, how am I supposed to get my joint from my house to wherever I’m going? My friend got cited for a joint in his ear downtown like it was an open beer.
Will

Dear Will: A cop who wasn’t an asshole would’ve told your friend to put his joint away, but what your friend was doing was a misdemeanor in the eyes of the law. If you’re walking around town with pot, then it has to be in a sealed, childproof container — think of it like an open-container law for alcohol. Childproof joint containers are uncommon, so it might be easier to keep your herb and some papers in a dispensary bottle. Still, I’m sure that if you keep joints in your pocket instead of on your face, police will leave you alone regardless of what containers you have.

Have a question for our Stoner? E-mail [email protected] or call the potline at 303-­293-­2222.