Pubdate: Mon, 18 Nov 2013
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2013 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: John Ingold

BOOM IN HASH OIL FEARED

Fire Offcials Warn That Making Concentrated Marijuana at Home Is
Dangerous

When the white clapboard house in the tiny northern Colorado town of
Carr went kaboom, the roof lifted off the top.

The chimney fell over. Windows blew out. Three people went to a
hospital.

Rarely before has Colorado's explosion of interest in marijuana been
demonstrated so literally.

A boy injured in the explosion said two men in the house were
attempting to make "oil that you use to smoke weed," according to
investigators. That makes the blast one of several to have occurred
around the state in recent years by people manufacturing marijuana
hash oil at home. The process often involves highly flammable
chemicals, considerable risk and, as the Carr explosion shows,
uncertain legality. Three people have been charged with felonies.

Fire officials across Colorado say they are concerned the state's new
laws on marijuana will lead to more incidents.

"We don't encourage such a process," said Patrick Love, a spokesman
for the Poudre Fire Authority, which has handled at least two
explosions or fires related to hash oil production. "It not only
endangers the person who's making it, but it could also endanger their
neighbors."

Even marijuana advocates say at-home production of hash oil should be
approached cautiously-though they believe authorities' fears of a
house-explosion epidemic are overstated.

"You're using potentially dangerous chemicals," said Brian Vicente,
one of the authors of Amendment 64, Colorado's marijuana legalization
law.

Hash oil is gloopy, concentrated marijuana-think of it like pot jelly
- - and its main appeal is its potency. Concoctions can be more than 75
percent THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana, and users
describe single hits of hash oil like smoking an entire joint all at
once.

To make it, do-it-yourselfers typically pack marijuana into a slender
pipe, then blow compressed butane gas through the pipe. The danger
comes from the resulting butane fumes that float around the room. The
less ventilated the space, the more dangerous it is.

"If there's any ignition source anywhere near it, like a pilot light,
then you have problems," said Bill Maron, an investigator with West
Metro Fire Rescue.

Last month, the Colorado Information Analysis Center - part of the
state homeland security office-put out a bulletin warning officials
about the dangers of home hash oil production. The bulletin noted two
cases, a February home explosion in Lakewood and a July incident in
Colorado Springs. News reports show there have been at least five more
spanning several years, including the explosion in Carr and one each
in Steamboat Springs and Breckenridge. Two incidents have occurred in
Fort Collins-including one, in 2009, in which a man died from burns.

Marijuana businesses in Colorado are allowed to manufacture hash oil,
but with strict requirements-such as ventilation hoods and a
"professional grade, closed-loop extraction system," according to
proposed new rules.

Though marijuana use and limited cultivation of marijuana is now legal
for people over 21 in Colorado, there is considerable confusion about
whether home hash oil production is legal, too.

In connection with the Carr explosion, three people have been charged
with felonies under a state law that bans the production of marijuana
concentrates. Vicente, though, said he believes Amendment 64's
protection for "processing" of marijuana plants covers home hash oil
production. A separate law allows local governments to ban the use of
flammable chemicals in at-home marijuana cultivation.

Vicente said courts will likely have to settle the debate.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt