Pubdate: Thu, 10 Oct 2013
Source: Westword (Denver, CO)
Copyright: 2013 Village Voice Media
Contact: http://www.westword.com/feedback/EmailAnEmployee?department=letters
Website: http://www.westword.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1616
Author: William Breathes

SHOULD I SMOKE POT GROWN IN A FLOODED AREA?

Dear Stoner: My grower said his greenhouse in Weld County got 
flooded, and he offered to let me take some plants home if I help him 
clean up. He said the place smells like manure from the floodwaters. 
My question: Is the stuff safe to smoke? Because I sure don't want to 
make any "brownies" out of it.

Rockin' the Good Shit

Dear Rockin': Manure has been a staple fertilizer for vegetables for 
thousands of years. And while it's not necessarily a common 
fertilizer for cannabis, as long as you flush the plants well before 
harvesting them (and maybe give them a little spray-down with some 
water before they go into flower), I don't see anything wrong with 
smoking them.

But that's not what you're asking. You're asking if plants soaked in 
floodwaters are okay, and the answer is: probably not. Animal shit is 
the least of your worries. It's the human shit you need to watch out 
for. Septic systems overflowed all over the place during the flood. 
And depending on the location of your grower's greenhouse in Weld 
County, you could be dealing with some wicked chemicals, thanks to 
the various oil spills in the area. At the very least, you've got all 
the nasty chemicals from nearby farmlands in there, as well as oil 
and gasoline from flooded cars. You get the point.

If it were me, I'd tell my friend that I'll wait until his next, 
poop-free harvest to take him up on his offer. And I would definitely 
avoid any food cooked with pot at his house over the next few months.

Dear Stoner: Is smoking resin bad for you? I still enjoy a black, 
tarry bowl of smoke now and then. Is that so wrong?

Nasty Nick B.

Dear Nasty Nick: Smoking anything isn't great for you. But, no, 
smoking cannabis resin isn't going to be any more harmful to you than 
smoking cannabis itself - aside from giving you ass-breath and a 
raging headache from too much smoke and too little THC. Now, is it 
wrong? To each his own, and I'm not judging you here. But this is 
Colorado, and we here at Ask a Stoner figure that anyone who's 
smoking resin is actively trying to not smoke actual marijuana at 
this point. Even quasi-homeless Colfax bums are smoking organic sensi 
these days, man. Clean your pipe and find a more reliable connection; 
it really shouldn't be that hard.
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