Marijuana cultivators around the Denver metro area are having a tough spring.
Six commercial operators were recently ordered to quarantine hundreds of cannabis plants due to a potential pesticide violation. The quarantine puts the cultivators’ businesses on hold indefinitely, as they can’t sell any of their crop until the quarantine is lifted.
The names of the six cultivators were not released.
In a related action, the city is requiring all 371 licensed cultivators within its borders to report by April 1 which pesticides they use.
On top of that, the city may also shut down up to 60 marijuana-growing collectives if the city council approves a measure to limit the number of plants allowed in a non-residential building to 36, if it’s not a licensed commercial operation.
Collectives have been part of Colorado’s medical marijuana market for years. Additional groups have emerged over the past year to support residents who want to legally grow the six plants they’re allowed under the state’s recreational law, but are unable to cultivate at home. Some, for instance, are forbidden from growing under terms of their apartment lease.
According to Denver officials, some of the collectives have up to 2,000 plants and don’t conform to safety codes.
