Odd Byproduct of Legal Marijuana: Homes That Blow Up

NY Times ^ | January 17, 2015 | Jack Healy

[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.

[Zakeet]

It's still legal in Colorado cause we don't have any zoning laws covering this ... dude!

[KeyLargo]

[Steely Tom]

Homes must be banned.

[KeyLargo]

[RichInOC]

Stoners do chemistry. What could possibly go wrong?

[BenLurkin]

Now will come the calls to legalize hash oil.

[Rio]

Lacquer thinner?

[Nifster]

natural consequences.....

[Vaquero]

And the Colorado rocky mountain high I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply Rocky mountain high

[Lurker]

It’s done by grinding lower grad pot into a fine powder and then dripping alcohol through it to extract the essential oils. This is usually done in a sealed low temperature distillation setup.

The danger comes when people try to rush the process and increase the heat to the ignition level of the alcohol.

Don’t ask how I know this.

[ConservingFreedom]

'The trend is not limited to Colorado — officials from Florida to Illinois to California have reported similar problems [...] “I view this as the equivalent of frying turkey for Thanksgiving. Someone spills the oil, and there’s an explosion. It’s unfortunate, but it’s not a felony crime.”'

[momtothree]

How do you know this? :)

[Lurker]

I had some friends who dabbled in grey market chemistry back in the 1970s. Never did it myself, of course. But I did hear that the end product was quite potent.

[uglybiker]

Dang! He blowed up real good!

[RedMDer]

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[Pearls Before Swine]

Thanks for your insight, which I’m sure is due to your being well-read. I would have guessed the cause was careless use of open flame heating and vapor ignition. Same problem as storing flammable liquids near the furnace.

[Pollster1]

I'm okay with this consequence.

[DiogenesLamp]

Wow. The plants are actually winning this battle of wits.

[DiogenesLamp]

I had some friends who dabbled in grey market chemistry back in the 1970s. Never did it myself, of course. But I did hear that the end product was quite potent.

Maybe we will get to the point where concentrated product will eventually attain overdose capability.

I'm getting to the point where I want to root for the plants. People that insist on messing with them had it coming.

[HangnJudge]

Supercritical CO2 extraction is cleaner and don’t go boom
But they do involve extraction vessels under 1000 psi pressures

http://skunkpharmresearch.com/affordable-diy-co2-extraction/