Pubdate: Sun, 24 Jul 2016
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2016 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Yesenia Robles

STATE LAB TESTING SHOWS NO THC IN HUGO WATER

Advisory Ends After Residents Were Told Not to Bathe, Drink or Cook 
With Their Tap Water

Hugo - the small town that made a sudden appearance in national 
headlines for nearly two days - is returning to normal after state 
laboratories determined that all six field tests that gave rise to 
suspicions about THC-contaminated water turned out to be false 
positives. Sandie Bailey and her 10-year-old daughter, JoHanna, said 
Friday that dishes were starting to pile up in their kitchen in Hugo 
because they were scared to use the town's water. The water was 
feared to be contaminated by THC, the main psychoactive compound in 
marijuana. Testing by the CBI, announced Saturday, eliminated that 
fear. Photos by RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation provided the more conclusive 
results indicating the water does not contain any THC, the main 
psychoactive compound in marijuana.

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office announced the news Saturday at 
about 8 a.m., calling off a water advisory that had warned residents 
not to bathe, drink or cook with their tap water.

The suspicion that THC was in Hugo's water was first announced 
Thursday after county officials, using field-test kits, got some 
positive tests results.

Despite the brief confusion it caused - including the football team 
canceling practice and local restaurants having to shut down - 
sheriff's officials said Saturday they don't regret taking the 
field-test kit results seriously.

"If this situation were to ever happen again, we would act in the 
same way," said Capt. Michael Yowell, a spokesman for the sheriff's 
office. "Public drinking water is nothing to chance or ignore." Some 
were skeptical from the beginning. Marijuana experts and lab workers 
noted that THC is not water soluble.

Yowell said Saturday the field-test kits used were saliva-based 
OrAlert test kits. The maker of the kit was not immediately available Saturday.

Susan Medina, a spokeswoman for the CBI, said the state agency did 
not keep track of data on the effectiveness of the field tests and 
how those results compared with the lab tests.

Medina did say toxicology tests conducted at the agency's laboratory 
"are much more sensitive in nature compared to field tests, and offer 
more in-depth analysis of the sample."

Yowell said Hugo's scare made officials recognize there are no good 
tests to detect THC in water.

"I don't think anyone other than a chemist or forensic expert could 
say why the field tests were inaccurate, a question we are asking 
too," Yowell said. "To our knowledge there is no precedent that was 
set for a situation like this."

Hugo resident Keith Bowhan said Saturday he appreciated the work that 
local officials had done.

"I think they did everything they could to get the situation with the 
water under control," Bowhan said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom