WPRO News and the Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The Rhode Island State Fire Marshal says a drug lab that used a flammable liquid to turn marijuana into butane hash oil has been found in the ruins of building gutted by fire.
WPRI reports that Fire Marshal Jack Chartier calls it a marijuana-burning operation. The building caught fire last week.
Among the items found were butane tanks, tubes filled with marijuana and half-burned marijuana.
Chartier said turning pot leaves into butane hash oil, or BHO, which is a syrup-like consistency, involves forcing butane through the marijuana. He says the fuel draws out the THC, the drug’s active ingredient.
Chartier says that the thick liquid remaining is cooked to boil off the butane.
He says butane is extremely flammable.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
