Imagine that the single family home you own in a quiet neighborhood was just leased to a family that moved from out of state. You pop by a few weeks after lease-signing to drop off extra keys and see how they are settling in. Instead of beds, sofas and other décor, you find that each room has been fitted with grow lights connected to hazardous tangles of electrical cords. Your tenants have stripped your house of furnishings and converted it into a greenhouse for growing marijuana.
That nightmare occurred in a Colorado city that has been known, not for its drugs and crime, but for art, a rich history and beautiful museums. In fact, Pueblo, Co., made Livability.com's Top 10 Cities for Historic Preservation list. Yet, investigators who searched a rental home there in March found 127 pot plants and growing equipment worth more than $100,000.