Developing: Pakistani Plane Escorted by UK Fighter Jets — 2 Men Arrested

Listen to the Buck Sexton Show Live on TheBlaze Radio

Government

‘Marijuana 101′: Fed Pot Laws Create Conundrum for States Where Growing Weed Is Legal

Feb. 25, 2013 6:50am Billy Hallowell

Federal Pot Laws Create This Legal Conundrum When It Comes to Growing Weed

Credit: AP

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — It may be called weed, but marijuana is legendarily hard to grow.

Now that the drug has been made legal in Washington and Colorado, growers face a dilemma. State-sanctioned gardening coaches can help folks cultivate tomatoes or zucchini, but both states have instructed them not to show people the best way to grow marijuana. The situation is similar in more than a dozen additional states that allow people to grow the drug with medical permission.

That’s leaving some would-be marijuana gardeners looking to the private sector for help raising the temperamental plant.

“We can’t go there,” said Brian Clark, a spokesman for Washington State University in Pullman, which runs the state’s extension services for gardening and agriculture. “It violates federal law, and we are a federally funded organization.”

The issue came up because people are starting to ask master gardeners for help in growing cannabis, Clark said. Master gardeners are volunteers who work through state university systems to provide horticultural tips in their communities.

The situation is the same in Colorado, where Colorado State University in Fort Collins recently added a marijuana policy to its extension office, warning that any employee who provides growing assistance acts outside the scope of his or her job and “assumes personal liability for such action.”

Credit: AP

The growing predicament is just the latest quandary for these states that last year flouted federal drug law by removing criminal penalties for adults over 21 with small amounts of pot. In Washington, home-growing is banned, but it will be legal to grow pot commercially once state officials establish rules and regulations.

In Colorado, adults are allowed to grow up to six marijuana plants in their own homes, so long as they’re in a locked location out of public view.

At least two Colorado entrepreneurs are taking advantage of that aspect of the law; they’re offering growing classes that have attracted wannabe professional growers, current users looking to save money by growing their own pot and a few baby boomers who haven’t grown pot in decades and don’t feel comfortable going to a marijuana dispensary.

“We’ve been doing this on our own, but I wanted to learn to grow better,” said Ginger Grinder, a medical marijuana patient from Portales, N.M., who drove to Denver for a “Marijuana 101″ class she saw advertised online.

Grinder, a stay-at-home mom who suffers from lupus and fibromyalgia, joined about 20 other students earlier this month for a daylong crash course in growing the finicky marijuana plant.

Taught in a rented room at a public university, the course had students practicing on tomato plants because pot is prohibited on campus. The group took notes on fertilizer and fancy hydroponic growing systems, and snipped pieces of tomato plants to practice cloning, a common practice for nascent pot growers to start raising weed from a “mother” marijuana plant.

Credit: AP

Ted Smith, a longtime instructor at an indoor gardening shop, led the class, and warned these gardeners that their task won’t be easy. Marijuana is fickle, he said. It’s prone to mildews and molds, picky about temperature and pH level, intolerant to tap water.

A precise schedule is also a must, Smith warned, with set light and dark cycles and watering at the same time each day. Unlike many house plants, Smith warned, marijuana left alone for a long weekend can curl and die.

“Just like the military … they need to know when they’re getting their water and chow,” Smith said of the plants.

The class was the brainchild of Matt Jones, a 24-year-old Web developer who wanted to get into the marijuana business without raising or selling it himself. As a teenager, Jones once tried to grow pot himself in empty Home Depot paint buckets. He used tap water and overwatered, and the marijuana wilted and died.

“It was a disaster,” he recalled. Jones organized the class and an online “THC University” for home growers, but his own thumb isn’t green. Jones said he’ll be buying his marijuana from professional growers.

The course showed would-be grower Cael Nodd, a 34-year-old stagehand in Denver, that marijuana gardening can be an intimidating prospect.

“It seems like there’s going to be a sizable investment,” he said. “I want something that really tastes good. Doesn’t seem like it will be that easy.”

–

Related:

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

Back to The Blaze »

Comments (19)

Stoic one
Posted on February 25, 2013 at 9:42am
I found it extremely easy to grow in Fulton NY back in the 70′s.

Sounds like marketing hype to me.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- olderjarhead
  Posted on February 25, 2013 at 11:16am
  I’ve heard it’s easy to grow too.
  
  Report this comment
smokeysmoke
Posted on February 25, 2013 at 8:53am
they say its legal, they tell you they wont bust you, but then they still can bust you if they want to for growing an illegal substance

who is this stupid

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Acena
Posted on February 25, 2013 at 8:47am
The Mexican drug cartels won’t take kindly to losing millions of dollars a year and Obama has no interest in causing economic damage to Mexico and causing more “unemployment” amongst our illegals.

If they don’t want to finance drug cartels they can always finance Hezbollah’s terrorist activities by buying their pot and hash.

Marijuana is a weed that doesn’t grow exceptionally well in America’s climate and the quality is poor here. But hey who cares if you are sponsoring mass murder and terrorism buying it. As long as your back doesn’t hurt for 2 hours………

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
hempstead1944
Posted on February 25, 2013 at 8:45am
Our Government should know when it has lost a war…..and we should get the hell out of Iraq and Afghanistan too.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Southernsoul
Posted on February 25, 2013 at 8:28am
The liberal mind amazes me. How do they get through the day when they completely ignore reality? Its ok to have pot, or even grow it, but don’t ask us how. Its so easy. Just put up a sign that says this is a pot growing area.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
poorrichard09
Posted on February 25, 2013 at 8:21am
You just watch: state laws on legal pot conflict with the federal laws so there’s still a problem-the answer (done in stealth) will be to change the fed laws-shazam! problems solved and pot legalized on national level. Think 0blama wouldn’t do it?

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- soybomb315_II
  Posted on February 25, 2013 at 8:31am
  and if pot were made legal at the federal level, states could still keep it illegal so it is not as drastic as you think
  
  Report this comment
- olderjarhead
  Posted on February 25, 2013 at 11:17am
  And the problem with that, would be?
  
  Report this comment
loriann12
Posted on February 25, 2013 at 8:01am
Actually, it’s not that hard to grow. It’s hard to “sex” but it’s not hard to grow. And it’s not intolerant of tap water. They’re trying to discourage people from growing it. You do have to trim it so it doesn’t get huge. The hard part is waiting until it’s mature enough to harvest.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
ISeeDanger.com
Posted on February 25, 2013 at 7:47am
That’s why they made YouTube… Much more efficient than the Gov and Lib Unv.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
searching for the Truth
Posted on February 25, 2013 at 7:39am
Dope has destroyed soo many minds!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
soybomb315_II
Posted on February 25, 2013 at 7:06am
so the whole purpose of this article is to show that nobody in government knows how to grow marijuana? Who the hell cares and anyone who looks to the government to help them grow marijuana should get a clue

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Eastinfection
Posted on February 25, 2013 at 6:59am
There are dozens of reputable grow/ cultivate books for indoor, outdoor and hydro.
Also, High Times back catalog of issues has great tips.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- soybomb315_II
  Posted on February 25, 2013 at 7:37am
  there are very few people who are stupid enough to ask the government how to grow marijuana. Looks like this is a straw man article designed to stir up confusion among the conservatives
  
  Report this comment
- decendentof56
  Posted on February 25, 2013 at 8:35am
  @EASTINFECTION…”There are dozens of reputable grow/ cultivate books for indoor, outdoor and hydro. Also, High Times back catalog of issues has great tips.”
  
  That’s great info, but really…wouldn’t a new government agency be the hot set-up for would-be dopeheads? Think of the experienced professionals it could employ. We could all learn the advantages of sitting in caves,smoking Pot, and eating leaves in order to save the environment, man, wouldn’t that be wild, dude?
  
  Bill Ayers could be “Dope Czar”. It would provide thousands of Government jobs, and would no doubt stimulate the economy. There would be a cabinet position, Secretary of Dope. Bernadine Dhorn comes to mind.
  
  There could be college courses, such as “Dope 101″ or, “The Greatest Dopes in America”. “Dope Hydroponics” comes to mind. The possibilities are endless. Students could earn a Masters degree, with the ultimate goal of becoming Ph.D in Dopology.
  Dude, you’ve really turned me on to some heavy s%#t. Wow!
  
  Report this comment
- Eastinfection
  Posted on February 25, 2013 at 8:44am
  DECENDENTOF56…..
  
  lol… great imagination… pass me some of whatever you’re smoking.
  
  Report this comment
FlagWavingPatriot
Posted on February 25, 2013 at 6:55am
Just say no.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- circleDwagons
  Posted on February 25, 2013 at 7:35am
  Just say no to government. Are people expecting pot handouts from government? Let me see I want to grow a garden so I call up the university? Very funny. I do not remember my college buddies having problems growing tomatoes.
  
  Report this comment

It appears that you have Javascript Disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser preferences for a better user experience on TheBlaze. You can not comment without Javascript enabled.