The legalization of recreational marijuana in Washington and Colorado has created a whole host of issues that previously never had to be addressed by those states' governments. One such concern is whether a free, state-sanctioned program called “master gardeners” can be used to help folks learn to cultivate cannabis.
 
Master gardener programs are run through state universities and made up of unpaid volunteers. The purpose of the program is to impart free agricultural and horticultural advice to the public. There are some 95,000 master gardeners presently operating in all 50 states and Canada – and such free cultivation advice would most likely be welcomed by residents of states that have legalized pot for medicinal or recreational purposes.
 
Unfortunately, states with such laws have instructed the master gardener program not to assist potential pot growers. After all, the program is federally funded and would be breaking federal law by assisting in cannabis cultivation
 
In Washington State’s case this only applies to medical marijuana, as state residents are not permitted to grow recreational pot, but in Colorado anyone 21 and older can legally cultivate up to six plants in an area out of public view.
 
Nonetheless, the state of Colorado warned its employees and members of the program that anyone administering cultivation aid outside the defined scope of their job responsibilities "assumes personal liability for such action."
 
As a result, the private sector has swooped in to fill the gardening gap in Colorado, with cultivation classes for aspiring pot growers being held in cities like Denver. Still, this requires the potential cultivator to come up with tuition and other class fees as opposed to utilizing the free master gardener program – yet another example of how federal prohibition continues to needlessly stifle pot progress. 
 
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