Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in January, and growing operations have amped up to meet demand. However, the increase in production comes with a smelly downside for Denver residents.
The pot smell coming from the largely industrial areas accounts for about 30 percent of Denver's odor complaints this year, according to USA Today. The growing factories no longer reside in isolated areas, but they are not near most homes, schools and parks.
The Mile High City has dozens of legal indoor-grow operations. The unmarked warehouses come equipped with security cameras, heavy-duty electrical connections and new ventilation systems. The growers do take steps to filter their "grow-room exhaust," as they did to a greater extent before the state legalized pot, according to USA Today.
Ben Siller, a Denver code enforcement officer, uses a device known as a "Nasal Ranger" to scientifically measure how strong an order is. The reported marijuana smell has not violated the city's standard - no more than one part odor to seven parts filtered air or five complaints from nearby residents within a 12-hour period, according to USA Today.
Siller attributes the complaints to people still not thrilled about the legalization decision.
"You do have people who just object to the whole idea," he said. "(The smell) is discernible. It's there, but you get used to it, just like any odor."
Colorado wants to increase the amount of marijuana produced by legal retailers. Only about 60 percent of marijuana sales take place legally. The others happen either illegally, or on the so-called "gray market," where unlicensed citizens grow pot for their own use, according to USA Today.
"Right now, we are pretty significantly under what should be produced," said Ron Kammerzell, deputy senior director of enforcement for the Colorado Department of Revenue. "What that does is, (it) raises the prices and if the price is too high, then we can't compete with the black market and that was our ultimate goal - we wanted to eliminate the black market."
