Month: April 2020

How are plants counted?

 

One would think that a plant is a plant is a plant. Of course that may be true in the normal world, but not in the pot world. It’s more like the front of a large store in the spring, where the cost of plants varies with the size, and sometimes with the rack it is on.
With cannabis plants, in Colorado, under state law, plants are counted in at least three different ways depending upon where you look. Constitutionally, a plant is an “immature plant” if it is not flowering, not over 8″ tall, and in a container not more than 8″ by 8″ by 8″, and open at the top. I’m not sure why open at the top matters. Easier for LEOs to measure??
In the 1/1/2018 Colorado Statute, a plant is a not-yet-flowering cannabis plant in a container less that 4″ by 4″ by 4″ and not more than 4″ tall.
Criminally, a plant can be a clone with a root system that has started to develop.
The most basic 6 plant limit consists of 3 plants in veg or mothers, and 3 flowering. Generally flowering means buds are showing at nodes.
So a plant can be anything from a clone with a root system developing to a plant over 8″ in a pot, open at the top, not over 8″ by 8″ by 8″
The complications, as if that was not enough, comes in determining how many plants you can grow, which generally depends on where you are located and which LEO is bothering or busting you.
Lafayette Colorado limits not only count, but also size of grow, as well as total grow wattage! Why leave anything out? They did not prohibit pot businesses in town.

While I’ve run into LEOs that weigh plants they cut down, including some that weigh containers and dirt. That is simply wrong

Random Death Penalty for Pot Possession

Pot carries a random death penalty.

The ones we know of already, including :

raids and killings at the wrong address
raids and killings at the site where pot is found, growing or not
dogs shot during search warrant raids, regardless of the outcome of the search

Pot growing and possession is still beings actively investigated and charged in Colorado.

I if a grow is suspected, the house is raided, contaminating it with infected LEOs without hazmat suits. Note that they’ll wear the HAZMAT PPE if a meth lab is suspected, to protect themselves and neighbors. The cops breath on each other. They breath on the suspects, the suspect’s baby, girlfriend, wife and cats and interior surfaces including cabinets, inside and out. Every knob in the house is handled.

The suspects breath on the cops, without masks and without distance. Ever see a LEO cuffing a suspect from 6.5 feet away, wearing a mask and having had the suspect mask-up and wash hands first Either of them?

When were the cuffs last disinfected? The pistol? The M-16, the back seat of the police cruiser? the holding cell, the counter at the jail control module? the pens in the pen cup on the jail intake counter?

Then, if not bonded, the suspect, still innocent unless proven guilty, is in the HIGH infection risk of the jail. The jail staff did not sign up for this type of life-threatening risk. The State and US Constitution forbids it in numerous ways including violating the presumption of innocence.

SO, to take down a grow, or to investigate a grow or mere possession, LEOs expose entire families, regardless of the outcome of the ultimate case, if there even is a case and conviction. The families, and perhaps their pets, pose a risk of infection to the LEOs.

Please tell me how that makes any sense??

In law, we talk of a “lessor of evils” defense. Is it worse to grow pot or to die doing your job? Is it worse to grow pot or to expose LEOs to a deadly virus? Is it worse to grow pot than it is to expose Sheriffs and other jail personal and other inmates, whether convicted or still presumed innocent, to a random death penalty by torturous germ warfare?

Love

Lenny Frieling

How Many Plants can I Grow in Colorado? Part ONE of a complex issue.

I talk to numerous people weekly with the “same” question. “How many plants can I grow in Colorado?” Most who reach out to me either have initially researched it themselves and not reached any comfortable level of certainty in their answer, while others are starting with reaching out to me.

Most believe that the question has a clear answer, and that the answer will take less than 10 minutes. That is not true. If it were possible, I would happily answer the question during the brief call, without charging for that brief answer.

In fact, the answer is surprisingly complex. I’ll break the areas of concern into a number of blogs, this being part one.

First, is the answer found in one place? No it is not. The Colorado Constitution has part of the answer, and theoretically should be controlling-overriding guidance for Colorado. If only that were so. The other sources of law do not always agree with the Constitutional language. The state criminal law contradicts it. County and municipal ordinances contradict it in many locations. Even the methods of counting plants differ from law to law.

Even if the various sources of laws and regulations agreed, one must consider HOA rules, leases, related overlapping ordinances like odor nuisance ordinances, roommates and the makeup of the household, and whether it is recreational or medical grow. The underlaying paperwork if any also impacts the answer.

In general, to be able to give reasonable advice and guidance with at least some level of confidence has required one to three hours consultation. This is generally split over two meetings.

in PART II I’ll address a basic list of things you can have ready to go to improve the quality of the advice, and to reduce the time it takes to provide the advice.

Because of the changes in the count rules and laws over the last several years, a number of incorrect and high risk strategies for growing larger numbers no longer are “safe harbors.” For example, the strategy of being a caregiver for numerous patients with extended (beyond 6 plants) plant counts has been the target of laws intended to close that “loophole.”

To further complicate the question, different LEOs (law enforcement officers) have different beliefs as to what the laws permit and require. These range from generally right to completely wrong. One can be legally pretty safe technically and still end up swept up by the system under the direction of LEOs with totally confused and incorrect understandings. Some Counties are operating under beliefs which are simply wrong.

Stay healthy!
Love
Lenny