Clandestine Indoor Marijuana Grow Operations: An Emerging Risk For Property Insurers, Owners

The number of clandestine indoor marijuana grow operations (CIMGOs) in the United States and Canada has exploded in recent years. With the ongoing legalization of medical and recreational marijuana use in many U.S. states, as well as in Canada, which legalized medical marijuana use nationwide in 2001 and reportedly may legalize marijuana altogether in 2018, the trend is expected to continue. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s recent report Residential Marijuana Grows in Colorado: The New Meth Houses? described how the legalization of marijuana in Colorado has led to the proliferation of indoor marijuana grow operations in “hundreds of homes throughout the state.”