Coloradans love their home grows, but as new technology and methods of cultivation reach the new legal cannabis market, some DIY growers could use a refresher course in safety for lighting, plumbing, and compliance. That’s why Denver NORML gathered some of the brightest minds in the industry for a free event on Saturday April 15th.
The Denver NORML chapter held their first Grow Safety Symposium to teach home cultivators the best safety practices. They understand that growing cannabis is a huge undertaking. Whether a newbie home grower or a seasoned expert, the symposium had something for everyone.
The Denver NORML Grow Safety Symposium had several speakers on cultivation, grow security, lighting, and compliance all educating consumers on best practices for home cultivation.
A room of vendor booths were also available for questions on how to implement best safety practices. The first of its kind, the symposium and vendor booth area was labeled a huge success by the Denver NORML leadership. They addressed concerns of local green thumb growers like pests, mold, and humidity control with helpful resources. Experts in the industry came from all over the area, including: Transcend Lighting, Desicare, Essential Extracts, Ethos Genetics, The Herbal Cure, Denver Protection & Obedience Training, Soil Secrets LLC & Soil Secrets Worldwide LLC, Mariwaste LLC, and 420 Pest Bully.
Jay Lopez of Dr. Green Plumb was clearly knowledgeable in cannaplumbing and lighting. He offered up his best practices for how to keep a safer grow, reminding the audience to “Stay HIGH…in efficiency!”
A representative from the renown cannabis-centric law firm, Hoban Law, spoke about cannabis laws and compliance. “We started out with compassion thirty years ago for patients getting their medicine from home growers,” he said. He then went on to explain the new laws going through the state legislature for home cultivation.
The measure, House Bill 1220, would cap plant counts from 99 to one dozen.
The representative of the law group explained the motivation behind the bill to the audience, most of whom would be directly affected with a limit to the plant count.
He explained that the reasons are in response to the state wanting to curb home grows and co-ops that are selling their medical cannabis to the black market. Officials are reporting an alarming amount of home grows starting to feed into the “grey” market (and even being sold out of state).
Another reason behind the cap, he said, is for the business purpose of giving commercial cannabis entities more control over the quality of legal cannabis. After all, these cannabis companies have gone through countless licensing procedures and compliances to make sure they are adhering to state law. So, some say it’s unfair to those legal cannabis companies with licenses to have homegrown cannabis enter the legal marketplace.
The learning curve is steep and it can be difficult to adapt to change. But knowledge is power and with safety events like the Grow Safety Symposium aimed at home growers, it could curb the negative news of botched home grows and extractors in the evening news.
Denver NORML also recognizes the power of correct information with a Nelson Mandela quote they added to their event page, which reads, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
