GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—A grand jury declined to bring charges against three Western Colorado marijuana growers, months after the operation was raided following a neighbor’s complaint.
Prosecutors asked for charges including felony marijuana cultivation against three owners of a medical marijuana dispensary called Naturals, A Wellness Center.
The growing operation was raided March 9 after a neighbor complained about a chemical smell. Officers from the Western Colorado Drug Task Force found 1,080 marijuana plants and asked for patient registry cards to justify that amount of marijuana.
The three owners—Cristin Groves, Brian Groves and Sid Squirrell—insisted they were following state law and are legal caregivers entitled to grow pot for medical marijuana patients. The owners shared marijuana registry cards.
“My client has always intended to stay within the law,” said lawyer Stephen Laiche, who represents Squirrell.
The (Grand Junction) Daily Sentinel reported that the pot growing business has worked out of a leased building since last year.
“We are extremely happy that the community … was able to weigh the evidence and agree that we are operating within Colorado state law,” Groves wrote the newspaper in an e-mail after the grand jury declined to bring charges Thursday night. The grand jury’s decision was made public Friday.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Rubinstein, one of two prosecutors who presented evidence to the grand jury, declined to comment Friday afternoon.
Colorado’s medical marijuana law allows patients to designate a “primary caregiver” to grow their marijuana. The amendment defines a primary caregiver as someone, other than the patient’s doctor, age 18 or older and having “significant responsibility for managing the well-being of a patient who has a debilitating medical condition.”
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Information from: The Daily Sentinel,
