Authorities in the small hamlet of Hugo, Colorado, are scrambling today to figure out how THC (the main psychoactive compound in cannabis that gets you high) was introduced into one of the town’s wells. After field-tested water came back positive six out of 10 times, trace amounts of THC were zeroed in on in Hugo’s Well Number One. This, coupled with clear signs of tampering with the well, forced the city to shut the water source down and allow all the water to flush out. In the meantime, the authorities have asked the residents to abstain from drinking or bathing in tap water just in case.
Appropriately, Hugo Mayor Tom Lee said the incident, “just blew my mind.” Good choice in turn of phrase there, Mayor Lee. Former Mayor Patsie Smith received an SMS notification about the tainted water and quipped, “I might have to go drink some water!” Overall, the case of the THC-tainted water will flush away in 48 hours.
Hugo Residents Evidence of THC in town water,Dont
drink,shower,or cook w/it.Fresh H20 coming Will advise when it arrives.#HugosWater— Hugo Marshals Office (@HugoMarshals) July 21, 2016
County Health Officer Dr. John Cox notes that residents need not worry, citing, “It would take more product than any of us could afford to contaminate a city water supply to the extent that people would suffer any effects.” What a buzzkill, man.
Some cannabis activists and ‘experts’ have weighed in on whether the case is real. Peter Perrone, who owns the Wheat Ridge cannabis testing facility, said “cannabinoids such as THC or CBD are in no way soluble in water. There is zero possibility that there’s anything like THC in the Hugo water.” The authorities in Hugo are aware that water soluble THC is not an easy task. They seem to be dealing with the situation as it unfolds with more testing, and the FBI has been called in to investigate.
At any rate, tampering with a town’s water supply and possibly drugging a whole community with a substance they didn’t intend to imbibe is super not cool. There are 62 medical marijuana users in Hugo already. The town of 720 had no acrimonious debate over Colorado’s new marijuana laws, according to the mayor. If someone wants to get high in Colorado, there’s nothing stopping them from doing so. Attempting to drug a whole town is never funny.
(Via the Denver Post)
