CO’s planned crackdown on home growers could benefit legal market

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Colorado’s planned legislative crackdown on legal cannabis home growers who sell their product into the black market could push more consumers to buy product from licensed marijuana stores.

As President-elect Donald Trump continues to nominate people for his cabinet who are anti-cannabis, Colorado appears to be trying to preserve its legal marijuana industry, the Associated Press reported.

Gov. John Hickenlooper says the state’s hefty cannabis allocations for home growers make it difficult for police to determine who is legal and who is operating in the black market, according to the AP.

Colorado currently allows an MMJ patient or caregiver to grow up to 99 cannabis plants, well above the ceilings set by other states. Hickenlooper’s legislative plans, outlined to state lawmakers, would impose a cap of 12 plants in private homes across the state, the AP reported.

The governor also wants to bar group recreational grows and impose new paperwork on private people who cultivate MMJ.

The legislative package would keep the state in line with requirements spelled out in the Justice Department’s Cole Memo, which aims to prevent marijuana from flowing to the black market.