Colorado plans crackdown on home pot growers

The goal is to cut down on complaints that Colorado's liberal allowances for growing pot without a license has created a thriving network of illegal growers.

Colorado allows medical pot patients to grow up to 99 plants, far beyond other marijuana states, and it also allows recreational users to group their allotted six plants into massive co-ops, entire greenhouses of pot that aren't tracked or taxed.

With uncertainty looming about how the next president will approach marijuana, Colorado regulators say it's time to ramp up efforts to crush the black market and show the feds that Colorado isn't letting weed seep into other states.

The governor's plans, outlined to lawmakers in advance of the 2017 legislative session, include a statewide 12-plant limit in private homes, which is still more generous than other marijuana states such as California (6 plants) and Washington (4 plants before having to register with the state).

Colorado's pot laws are in the state constitution, so residents literally have constitutional rights to high plant counts and to designate others to grow plants for them.