Residential medical marijuana grows have been cropping up around Aurora recently, causing city officials to contemplate the safety hazards associated with them and propose potential regulations.
City officials tackled the prospects of regulating the residential growing of medical marijuana at an Aurora City Council Neighborhood Services Policy Committee July 15, the first of a series of monthly meetings on the issue that will run through November.
A presentation on home grows in Aurora was made by Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates at the meeting. Committee members then discussed whether the city would be able to legally defend itself if they proposed their own rules governing home grows. They ultimately concluded that a more extensive look into the potential safety hazards of medical marijuana home-grows should be conducted before regulations were proposed.
Newly enacted Colorado legislation allows medical marijuana caregivers to have five patients and grow six plants per patient, but the law does not specify how many square feet is required for a home grow operation, or what safety precautions must be adopted.
As of July 1, the city's police officers have identified 63 locations where medical marijuana was being grown in a residential home in Aurora, Oates said at the meeting.
That's up from the 54 grows that were reported by the police department in early June.
Residents in about 30 locations showed some sort of documentation that justified the existence of the marijuana plants, Oates said. The number of home grows increased by 217 percent in the past six months, he said.
Since home grows of medical marijuana have proliferated, Oates said his narcotics unit has devoted 40 percent of its time to identifying the home grows and determining whether they are legitimate.
He presented photographs of the dozens of electrical wires and heat lamps that police officials have encountered at residential marijuana growing operations, which cause serious health risks.
"The challenge we're seeing is when there's a volume of plants, these places feel inherently unsafe to us," Oates said.
Weapons such as handguns are also found at many of the residential growing locations, he said, and are mainly used as a defense against potential thieves.
The city's building inspectors now accompany police officials in all cases of residential grow investigations. In a recent venture to a Saddle Rock residence where a medical marijuana grow operation was being conducted, building inspectors noted there were more than 100 electrical code violations, including wires that could result in electrocution and death if they were touched.
"It wasn't a matter of if the house was going to burn down, it was a matter of when," said Scott Berg, the city's chief building official. "None of this is legal or even close to being legal."
Chemicals from the grow operation in the Saddle Rock community were also being disposed of in the drainage system, causing concern over whether the water was contaminated, Berg said. Water officials found no contamination in the water in that instance, he said.
Tom Nicholas, chairman of the city's newly created Medical Marijuana Task Force, suggested the committee members decide how extensive the regulations on home grows should be.
Aurora City Council members decided in mid-July that they will ask voters whether they want to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in the city, but regulations on medical marijuana home grows will be at the sole discretion of the city.
"We have to decide just how aggressive we want to become, and whether we're pushing the risk factor of litigation," said Nicholas, who is also deputy city manager.
Oates said that city officials should consider whether 30 marijuana plants in a home grow operation, as the state legislation stipulates, is an appropriate number.
"I think there's still room for this city to address what we think is the proper number of plants to be grown in a home," he said. "I think we'd be conceding too much this early to say that someone can grow 30 plants in a home."
One of the most disconcerting issues is speculation that home grow operations are being carried out by people who are using houses specifically for that purpose and not actually living in the homes, said Councilwoman Melissa Miller.
She asked Neighborhood Services officials to look into the legality of using a house solely for medical marijuana grows.
"I'm concerned about the safety and welfare of the people in that area," Miller said.
City officials said at the committee meeting that any regulations that will be instituted would be for the sake of safety.
Councilwoman Barb Cleland said that if the city decreased the number of plants that would be allowed in a home, the city would definitely face lawsuits.
Lawsuits could still ensue no matter what kinds of regulations the city implements concerning home grow operations, said Councilwoman Molly Markert.
"I have a lot of constitutional questions and I hope we have a very big legal budget," Markert said. "The state law gives us some guidelines, and every step we take beyond that puts us at risk of a lawsuit. I am hoping the legal department has access to resources to defend the decisions we make."
Miller asked the Medical Marijuana Task Force to come back to the committee next month with a report about what kinds of chemical waste products are being flushed down the city's water system as a result of the home grow operations.
The task force is comprised of several city officials including Oates, Neighborhood Services Liaison Nancy Sheffield, and Jim Sayre, manager of zoning and development review.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Aurora Sentinel
Author: SARA CASTELLANOS
Contact: Aurora Sentinel
Copyright: 2010 Aurora Sentinel
Website: Aurora police detail dozens of pot operations across city
* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
City officials tackled the prospects of regulating the residential growing of medical marijuana at an Aurora City Council Neighborhood Services Policy Committee July 15, the first of a series of monthly meetings on the issue that will run through November.
A presentation on home grows in Aurora was made by Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates at the meeting. Committee members then discussed whether the city would be able to legally defend itself if they proposed their own rules governing home grows. They ultimately concluded that a more extensive look into the potential safety hazards of medical marijuana home-grows should be conducted before regulations were proposed.
Newly enacted Colorado legislation allows medical marijuana caregivers to have five patients and grow six plants per patient, but the law does not specify how many square feet is required for a home grow operation, or what safety precautions must be adopted.
As of July 1, the city's police officers have identified 63 locations where medical marijuana was being grown in a residential home in Aurora, Oates said at the meeting.
That's up from the 54 grows that were reported by the police department in early June.
Residents in about 30 locations showed some sort of documentation that justified the existence of the marijuana plants, Oates said. The number of home grows increased by 217 percent in the past six months, he said.
Since home grows of medical marijuana have proliferated, Oates said his narcotics unit has devoted 40 percent of its time to identifying the home grows and determining whether they are legitimate.
He presented photographs of the dozens of electrical wires and heat lamps that police officials have encountered at residential marijuana growing operations, which cause serious health risks.
"The challenge we're seeing is when there's a volume of plants, these places feel inherently unsafe to us," Oates said.
Weapons such as handguns are also found at many of the residential growing locations, he said, and are mainly used as a defense against potential thieves.
The city's building inspectors now accompany police officials in all cases of residential grow investigations. In a recent venture to a Saddle Rock residence where a medical marijuana grow operation was being conducted, building inspectors noted there were more than 100 electrical code violations, including wires that could result in electrocution and death if they were touched.
"It wasn't a matter of if the house was going to burn down, it was a matter of when," said Scott Berg, the city's chief building official. "None of this is legal or even close to being legal."
Chemicals from the grow operation in the Saddle Rock community were also being disposed of in the drainage system, causing concern over whether the water was contaminated, Berg said. Water officials found no contamination in the water in that instance, he said.
Tom Nicholas, chairman of the city's newly created Medical Marijuana Task Force, suggested the committee members decide how extensive the regulations on home grows should be.
Aurora City Council members decided in mid-July that they will ask voters whether they want to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in the city, but regulations on medical marijuana home grows will be at the sole discretion of the city.
"We have to decide just how aggressive we want to become, and whether we're pushing the risk factor of litigation," said Nicholas, who is also deputy city manager.
Oates said that city officials should consider whether 30 marijuana plants in a home grow operation, as the state legislation stipulates, is an appropriate number.
"I think there's still room for this city to address what we think is the proper number of plants to be grown in a home," he said. "I think we'd be conceding too much this early to say that someone can grow 30 plants in a home."
One of the most disconcerting issues is speculation that home grow operations are being carried out by people who are using houses specifically for that purpose and not actually living in the homes, said Councilwoman Melissa Miller.
She asked Neighborhood Services officials to look into the legality of using a house solely for medical marijuana grows.
"I'm concerned about the safety and welfare of the people in that area," Miller said.
City officials said at the committee meeting that any regulations that will be instituted would be for the sake of safety.
Councilwoman Barb Cleland said that if the city decreased the number of plants that would be allowed in a home, the city would definitely face lawsuits.
Lawsuits could still ensue no matter what kinds of regulations the city implements concerning home grow operations, said Councilwoman Molly Markert.
"I have a lot of constitutional questions and I hope we have a very big legal budget," Markert said. "The state law gives us some guidelines, and every step we take beyond that puts us at risk of a lawsuit. I am hoping the legal department has access to resources to defend the decisions we make."
Miller asked the Medical Marijuana Task Force to come back to the committee next month with a report about what kinds of chemical waste products are being flushed down the city's water system as a result of the home grow operations.
The task force is comprised of several city officials including Oates, Neighborhood Services Liaison Nancy Sheffield, and Jim Sayre, manager of zoning and development review.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Aurora Sentinel
Author: SARA CASTELLANOS
Contact: Aurora Sentinel
Copyright: 2010 Aurora Sentinel
Website: Aurora police detail dozens of pot operations across city
* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
