Monday, January 19, 2015

Dude, where's my house?------Odd Byproduct of Legal Marijuana: Homes That Blow Up

Odd Byproduct of Legal Marijuana: Homes That Blow Up - NYTimes.com
DENVER — When Colorado legalized marijuana two years ago, nobody was quite ready for the problem of exploding houses.
But that is exactly what firefighters, courts and lawmakers across the state are confronting these days: amateur marijuana alchemists who are turning their kitchens and basements into “Breaking Bad”-style laboratories, using flammable chemicals to extract potent drops of a marijuana concentrate commonly called hash oil, and sometimes accidentally blowing up their homes and lighting themselves on fire in the process.
The trend is not limited to Colorado — officials from Florida to Illinois to California have reported similar problems — but the blasts are creating a special headache for lawmakers and courts here, the state at the center of legal marijuana.
...The explosions occur as people pump butane fuel through a tube packed with raw marijuana plants to draw out the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, producing a golden, highly potent concentrate that people sometimes call honey oil, earwax or shatter.
The process can fill a room with volatile butane vapors that can be ignited by an errant spark or flame.

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