Pubdate: Wed, 23 Jul 2014
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2014 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Jennifer Sullivan
Page: A1

FEDS TARGET GROWING HASH-OIL EXPLOSIONS

8 People Charged in Blasts Over Past Year

Dangerous Manufacturing Process Is Illegal

The chemical process used to make hash oil - a method so fraught with 
volatility that police compare it to making methamphetamine - has 
come under attack by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan's office filed criminal 
charges against eight people in connection with recent explosions 
attributed to the manufacture of hash oil in Bellevue, Seattle, 
Kirkland and Puyallup. One case involved a massive explosion and fire 
at a Bellevue apartment complex in November that resulted in the 
death of former Bellevue Mayor Nan Campbell.

While possession and consumption of hash oil are legal, Durkan said 
its manufacture is not.

"Under state law, there is no legal way to make hash oil right now. 
Every one of these home systems is a violation of federal law and 
state law," Durkan said during a news conference. "If you're doing it 
you should stop."

To make hash oil, a glass or steel canister is stuffed with dried 
marijuana. The canister is then flooded with a solvent such as 
butane, which strips away the psychotropic plant oils.

The resulting golden-brown goo is then purged of the solvent. Common 
methods include boiling it off in a hot-water bath, according to 
Wired magazine, or using a vacuum system to pull butane from the oil.

The danger comes mainly from improper ventilation. Butane is heavier 
than air and tends to sink and puddle in a closed room; sparks can 
cause explosions, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency says 
are sometimes misidentified as methlab mishaps.

Durkan said that when an explosion occurs "it's like a bomb going off 
in a home."

In their investigation, dubbed "Operation Shattered," the Drug 
Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms 
and Explosives, Seattle police, Kirkland police, Pierce County 
Sheriff's Department, Puyallup police and Bellevue police joined with 
the U.S. Attorney's Office to focus on eight defendants in four separate cases.

David Richard Schultz II, Daniel James Strycharske and Jesse D. 
Kaplan have each been charged with endangering human life while 
manufacturing controlled substances, maintaining drug-involved 
premises and manufacturing hash oil and marijuana, according to U.S. 
District Court documents unsealed Tuesday morning.

According to charges, the three men were seen manufacturing hash oil, 
also known as "Butane Honey Oil," in a unit at The Hampton Greens 
apartments in Bellevue.

Around 6:30 a.m. Nov. 5, witnesses reported hearing a loud boom 
before a fire erupted at the apartments. Flames quickly spread from 
the unit where hash oil was allegedly being made and caused more than 
$1.5 million in damage.

Campbell, 87, was injured escaping from the flames and later died. 
The three defendants and several others were also hurt.

According to the charges, Bellevue police had gone to the apartment 
Oct. 17 and spoken with Kaplan and Schultz. Both men presented their 
medical-marijuana cards but told police they were not making hash 
oil, the charges said.

An officer told the men that producing hash oil could result in a 
fire or explosion. He also said that making the oil inside the 
apartment "would be a violation of their rental agreement," charges said.

When questioned about police having knowledge about hash-oil 
production inside the unit before the explosion and fire, Durkan said 
officers have struggled with how to handle many issues surrounding marijuana.

"It has been a very difficult terrain for local law enforcement to 
navigate when and how to enforce marijuana violations. We have to 
just be real about that," Durkan said. "There are certain things that 
are past the line that anyone would draw; this is one of them. ... 
that people would do something that is the equivalent of a meth lab."

Also Tuesday, Hugh Rodney Harris, 65, was charged with endangering a 
human life while manufacturing a controlled substance, maintaining 
drug-involved premises and manufacturing marijuana in connection with 
a suspected hash-oil fire and explosion in Seattle's Mount Baker 
neighborhood in January. The blast knocked a building 6 inches off 
its foundation.

Another case involves a fire and explosion in Kirkland in January 
that severely damaged two apartments. Defendants Robby Wayne Meiser, 
46, and Bruce W. Mark, 62, are charged with endangering a human life 
while making a controlled substance, maintaining a drug-involved 
premises and manufacturing hash oil and marijuana.

The fourth case, in May, involves a suspected hash-oil explosion and 
fire in a Puyallup home where a 14-monthold baby lived. Kevin Weeks 
Jr., 24, and Seth M. Cleek, 31, were charged with endangering a human 
life while manufacturing a controlled substance, maintaining 
druginvolved premises and manufacturing marijuana.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, endangering human life while 
manufacturing controlled substances is punishable by up to 10 years 
in prison; maintaining drug-involved premises can bring up to 20 
years; and manufacturing hash oil can result in up to five years.

Alison Holcomb, criminal justice director for the American Civil 
Liberties Union of Washington and prime mover behind Washington's 
legal marijuana law, agreed that hash-oil explosions are dangerous.

"I think we're up to six or seven hash-oil explosions in the state of 
Washington. People can get seriously hurt," she said. "We need to 
explain to people what the risks and dangers are."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom