Pubdate: Thu, 10 Apr 2014
Source: Westword (Denver, CO)
Column: Ask a Stoner
Copyright: 2014 Village Voice Media
Contact: http://www.westword.com/feedback/EmailAnEmployee?department=letters
Website: http://www.westword.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1616
Author: William Breathes

DO HEMP HOUSEPLANTS COUNT AS MARIJUANA?

Dear Stoner: I've always wanted a hemp houseplant. What are the rules 
and regulations for growing hemp on a small, non-commercial scale? 
And does that count as one of the six plants that I'm allowed to 
grow? I realize that if I'm already growing marijuana, I'd need a 
male hemp plant to avoid cross-pollination - right?

Spring Haze

Dear Spring: Technically, there are no special laws regarding the 
non-commercial home cultivation of hemp - mostly because few people 
would really care about growing such small amounts of a commercially 
valuable crop they can't sell or get high from. That means that if 
you're going to grow hemp at home, it will fall under the guidelines 
for recreational marijuana and count toward your six plants. (Just 
think of it as growing really low-grade ganja.) And while hemp plants 
don't produce buds worth smoking, they do go into flower - so you'll 
have to make sure only three reach that stage at a time. Keep in mind 
that you'll need tall ceilings: Hemp isn't short and squatty like the 
ganja you've got in your basement.

Also, you want to avoid male plants: They produce the pollen that 
fertilizes the female plants. Once that happens, it causes the girls 
to divert their energy into making seeds instead of bulking up on 
THC. A male plant in your house - even in a separate room - would 
have a great chance of ruining your garden. For that matter, there's 
a good chance that it could pollinate your neighbor's garden, too, if 
the pollen gets outside of your house. All in all, it's probably not 
worth the effort. But, hey, to each his own. Send us some photos if 
you get it up and growing.

Dear Stoner: I was charged in Denver in 2001 with misdemeanor 
possession of drug paraphernalia. I've heard that I might not be able 
to get a job in the marijuana industry because of that. Also, I saw 
last month that charges and "convictions" such as these might be able 
to be reversed, dropped and deleted from your record because of 
Amendment 64.What's the deal?

Chakra Khan

Dear Chakra: You're right that drug and drug-paraphernalia charges 
can prevent you from getting certain jobs that require state 
licensing, but you can work in the marijuana industry with prior 
misdemeanor drug charges. As for getting your charges cleared, you're 
more than a decade past the eighteen-month window for appeals of your 
misdemeanor, so you're probably out of luck. If the courts do toss 
charges, it will only be for cases that are active or currently on appeal.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom