Police: Colorado Medical Marijuana Surplus Feeds Regional Black Market
A loophole in Colorado’s medical marijuana rules means thousands of pounds of surplus marijuana are left to feed the black market here and in neighboring states, an I-News investigation has found.
INVESTIGATION: A loophole in Colorado’s medical marijuana rules means thousands of pounds of surplus marijuana are left to feed the black market here and in neighboring states, an I-News investigation has found.
A new state law, which took effect July 1, doesn’t clear up the legal haze surrounding this surplus.
The constitutional amendment that legalized medical marijuana in Colorado a decade ago allows caregivers to have three mature plants and two ounces of usable marijuana per patient. But those three plants can yield much more than the two ounces the law allows. Under ideal growing conditions, the yield can reach more than a pound per plant.
That means every grower could have surplus marijuana that’s legal while growing on the plant, but illegal the moment it’s harvested. Go to the investigation…
See inside a rare look inside a secret medical marijuana grow operation.(2:03 minutes)
Hear from an Army veteran who used to fight the war on drugs, but now uses medical marijuana and fears losing his benefits. (2:22 minutes)
Learn how the medical marijuana surplus occurs.