The Vancouver Police Department is concerned the legalization of marijuana this summer could lead to a proliferation of dangerous "butane honey oil" labs built to extract the chemical compound in cannabis responsible for getting high.
Sgt. David Instant of the department's organized crime section said Washington State, where the recreational use of marijuana was legalized in 2012, has seen an increase in what are commonly referred to as BHO labs, which produce higher potency cannabis concentrates.
"This has become quite popular," Instant said in a presentation Thursday to the Vancouver Police Board. "These labs are highly dangerous as they involve the use of organic solvents to extract [tetrahydrocannabinol] and are often involved in explosions and fires."
In 2016, he noted, Washington State law enforcement reported that 25 per cent of all their calls to investigate clandestine drug operations were for BHO labs.
In one case in Bellevue in 2013, an explosion rocked an apartment complex. A former mayor of that city, Nan Campbell, died two weeks after she was injured while escaping the fire.
The VPD investigates, on average, one BHO lab every couple of years. But Instant told the Courier after his presentation that he suspects an open market for the recreational use of marijuana will see more people choosing to build such labs.
"You're going to have more bud available," he said of the new rules, which allow the growing of four plants her house and let adults possess and share up to 30 grams of dried cannabis with other adults. "We've seen there is an appetite and desire to have these higher concentrates."
To manufacture "butane honey oil," a lab operator typically fills a tube with marijuana and butane, which strips the tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, from the plant.
The process produces a sticky, brittle concentrate known by those in the drug trade as "shatter." Users heat it up and inhale the vapours to get a more euphoric high than experienced from smoking a joint.
In Vancouver, Instant said, the THC content in marijuana measures at about 21 per cent, whereas "shatter" is closer to 80 per cent. Det. Const. Chris Wong, who joined Instant in his presentation, said the process is cheap but he emphasized the dangers of explosions.
"That's our main concern," Wong said.
A potential proliferation of BHO labs was one of the concerns outlined by Instant in his presentation to the police board that focused on impacts marijuana legalization will have on the VPD.
He predicted police will see an increase in disputes between landlords and tenants over the growing and smoking of marijuana. Robberies, break-ins and thefts at marijuana stores are also likely under marijuana legalization, Instant said.
Impaired driving, having young people access marijuana and the ongoing concern of organized crime groups infiltrating dispensaries were other points made by Instant.
Police Chief Adam Palmer said he also expects legalization of marijuana will lead to confusion among some residents unclear of what is and isn't allowed on the streets.
"The public mindset, I think, will be that when they see people walking around smoking marijuana that they may have to call the police," he said. "But in many cases, that will now be legal in our society. So that will be an interesting one we'll have to stickhandle."
To Instant's point about organized crime, Palmer said police are concerned gangsters will attempt to undercut what will be legal operations to continue making money from marijuana.
"Price point is going to be important," the chief said. "If these stores don't sell it for a price that's, quite frankly, competitive, then you're going to see organized crime undercutting it and coming in and the black market flourishing."
Meanwhile, the provincial government continues to work towards setting up a framework for private and government-run pot shops to operate legally.
The Senate of Canada is currently debating Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act, which is legislation that would legalize access to cannabis in the country. The bill would also control and regulate how cannabis is grown, distributed and sold.
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