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Odd Byproduct of Legal Marijuana: Homes That Blow Up
NY Times ^ | January 17, 2015 | Jack Healy

Posted on 01/17/2015 3:22:44 PM PST by Zakeet

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.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Colorado
KEYWORDS: cannabis; contagion; darwin; explosions; marijuana; meth; narcotics; pot; safety; wod
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To: uglybiker

May the good Lord take a likin’ to ya and blow you up real soon.


21 posted on 01/17/2015 4:16:15 PM PST by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: ConservingFreedom

Wait a minute, dood! You mean you can use a turkey frier to make hash oil?


22 posted on 01/17/2015 4:19:22 PM PST by TigersEye (ISIS is the tip of the spear. The spear is Islam.)
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To: Vaquero

WHOOOOOO!!

23 posted on 01/17/2015 4:29:36 PM PST by uglybiker (nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-BATMAN!)
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To: Vaquero

LMAO!


24 posted on 01/17/2015 4:30:02 PM PST by Salamander (No more nights of blood and fire..)
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To: momtothree

WHY? WHY? WHY?

LOL


25 posted on 01/17/2015 4:31:26 PM PST by Salamander (No more nights of blood and fire..)
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To: Pollster1

Me too.

Really cheered me up, it did.

Funniest headline in a while.


26 posted on 01/17/2015 4:32:22 PM PST by Salamander (No more nights of blood and fire..)
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To: Zakeet
"A building in Mount Vernon, Wash., damaged after an explosion caused by butane hash-oil extraction in 2013."

Recreational marijuana was not legal in Washington State in 2013. Stores didn't open until 6 months ago. Obviously, this was going on beforehand.

The other thing I don't understand is why go to this huge risk now that you can buy the concentrated stuff in the stores (usually in vape pens)?

27 posted on 01/17/2015 4:36:04 PM PST by steve86 (Prophecies of Maelmhaedhoc OÂ’Morgair (Latin form: Malachy))
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To: Rio

Butane/propane.
The local recycle center frequently has dumpsters with lots of small probane bottles (1 #) and butane cylinders (unknown size; probably 6 Oz). It’s not uncommon for a house to nearly evaporate from the explosive power of these fuels going off. I think they heat the mix to drive off the excess solvent and ignore the issues.
Property owner in Jefferson. The last hope of CA.


28 posted on 01/17/2015 4:37:16 PM PST by sasquatch
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To: Lurker

Why not just use butane, ice and a series of filters?


29 posted on 01/17/2015 4:37:17 PM PST by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: Zakeet

mass-darwinism alert.


30 posted on 01/17/2015 4:39:28 PM PST by 9thLife ("Life is a military endeavor..." -- Pope Francis)
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To: DiogenesLamp
I'm getting to the point where I want to root for the plants.

Join the Vegetable Defense League and sign our petition calling for outlawing Vegans and the increased consumption of herbivores (Chickens, Cows, & Pigs).

"Ceterum censeo 0bama esse delendam."

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)

LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

31 posted on 01/17/2015 4:44:28 PM PST by LonePalm (Commander and Chef)
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To: Zakeet

Everyone MUST push their legislators to ban explosions. An explosion a week we must not seek. Stop the boom—keep away the tomb.


32 posted on 01/17/2015 4:44:48 PM PST by righttackle44 (Take scalps. Leave the bodies as a warning.)
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To: Lurker

The real problem isn’t alcohol, it’s Butane. You can make hash oil 10x faster using Butane than alcohol. (don’t ask how I know this).

I image the problem occurs because of inadequate ventilation and/or when somebody decides to use a stove directly and not using a hot water bath like a careful person would.

When butane fumes build up, it can easily go off with a flick of a light switch.

Industrial production of hash oil uses a vacuum pot operating at normal temperature. Instead of raising the temperature and creating that danger, you lower the atmosphere and force the boil-off at lower temperatures. This also has the added safety of being able to pump the fumes out of the workshop.


33 posted on 01/17/2015 4:45:46 PM PST by Usagi_yo (It's not possible to give success. Only opportunity. Success is earned on it's own right.)
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To: LonePalm

In other words...

“Save a vegetable, plant a vegan.”?

I see s new t-shirt in my future.


34 posted on 01/17/2015 4:53:20 PM PST by moovova
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To: DiogenesLamp

Shortly after Colorado legalized it a few people did OD on the edible variety. A young man ate a whole tray of some kind of baked goods (a tray of about 12 with 1 piece being one dosage) and jumped out of a a window.


35 posted on 01/17/2015 4:53:22 PM PST by Rides_A_Red_Horse (Why do you need a fire extinguisher when you can call the fire department?)
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To: Vendome

Probably because my hypothetical acquaintances never thought of it.


36 posted on 01/17/2015 4:53:42 PM PST by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: Pearls Before Swine
Same problem as storing flammable liquids near the furnace.

Does that mean I shouldn't keep that 5 gal gas can next to the water heater?

Wow. Who would've guessed? ;~))

37 posted on 01/17/2015 5:24:41 PM PST by Ditto
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To: Ditto
Stack up your boxes of black powder between the gas can and
the water heater as a barrier and you should be OK. ;^)
38 posted on 01/17/2015 5:36:12 PM PST by TigersEye (ISIS is the tip of the spear. The spear is Islam.)
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To: Zakeet

Generally referred to as “former neighbors”.


39 posted on 01/17/2015 5:59:12 PM PST by RetiredTexasVet (Benghazi Clinton killed 4 & injured a dozen as SOS, imagine what she could do as CinC.)
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To: Zakeet

Seriously? What percentage of pot smokers actually try this? And what percentage of those “blow up their houses”. I’m betting that it’s more likely, percentagewise, that houses are getting damaged by frying turkeys on Thanksgiving.


40 posted on 01/17/2015 6:11:33 PM PST by Teacher317 (We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men)
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