There’s a special ingredient in the drinking water flowing out of taps in a tiny farming community in Colorado.

Residents of Hugo, which has a population of about 800, have been warned not to drink, cook with or bathe in the town’s water for two days – after the chemical THC was found in a well.

THC is the psychoactive agent in cannabis, and health officials believe the discovery of the substance is ‘marijuana THC-related’.

Although recreational cannabis use is legal in Colorado, it is unclear how the substance found its way into the water.

Captain Michael Yowell of the the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said there was evidence that the well was tampered with, adding the FBI and Colorado Bureau of Investigation have joined the probe.

He said: ‘I wouldn’t be doing my job for the community if we just wrote this off.’

There have been no reports of anyone falling ill or being affected by the water so far, according to Susan Kelly, the county’s public health director.

But the Lincoln County health department has issued a robust warning to residents not to drink the water.

The alert said: ‘The contaminated well has been identified and shut down and the lines are being flushed.

‘Fresh water will be coming into town for the public as soon as possible.’

But some experts have rubbished the reports, including chemist Peter Perrone, owner of the state-licensed cannabis testing facility, Gobi Analytical in suburban Denver.

He said it is ‘virtually impossible to find THC in water’.

Source:
courtesy of METRO

by Harley Tamplin

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