The only real question is whether this was just ignorant incompetence, or instead a malicious attempt to generate anti-cannabis propaganda.
Given that there is no sensible reason to test the water for THC in the first place, my money is on #2.
8 Likes
Almost like they ran it as a real story when a little critical thought should have said “hey, hang on a minute…”
5 Likes
It has already been elevated now to hoax-levels of fiasco. The authorities in Hugo were so stimulated by the idea of catching a conspiracy to put pot in their water that they imagined this fantastic fictional explanation of what must be going on. They’re not competent, credible, qualified, or certified to do what they just did. They had no business playing at testing water supplies with an indiscriminate field screening test and then on ‘step two’ immediately raising the alarm based on this “local” truth, rather than bringing credible testing resources to bear first. In fact, they applied a field testing product to a lab sample in search of a marijuana crime like a cargo cult might dance for planes.
To me, yelling “fire” in a crowded theater when there’s neither smoke nor flames is a wrongful act. This also exposes the problems with the way the drug-war industry designs and promotes its products to their market, and how they are eventually misused by some consumers and even some authorities. It seems reasonable to say that they have caused a fiasco whose news coverage will probably be quoted incomplete as an slanderous argument against Colorado’s model of decriminalization and general legalization of cannabis. As a Coloradan, it’s hard not to just shake my head sadly at this misguided yokel revival of ‘Reefer Madness,’ though I think it provides a glimpse with clarity into the world that some sad folks inhabit, clinging desperately to their discredited system of belief even as a more progressive social reality encroaches them there in Hugo, CO.
3 Likes
From the later articles it appears a company doing drug testing on employees was getting inconsistent results, so they decided to use tap water as a control so they could have a baseline negative result. They got a positive. Instead of going the logical route at that point, they contacted the water company. That’s when talk of conspiracies and wishful thinking probably took over.
Next week: Hugo resident discovers evidence of cold fusion.
5 Likes
[quote=“tropo, post:46, topic:81974, full:true”]From the later articles it appears a company doing drug testing on employees
[/quote]
BTW, as another example of how the “Land of the Free” isn’t:
My employment history includes working at a nuclear reactor, working in the Supreme Court, handling millions in cash, working with class-A drugs, teaching at a university, working with heavy machiniery and power tools, etc.
Not once in that time I have ever been subjected to the invasive humiliation of a drug test.
8 Likes
my name is inigo montoya, you pixilated my meme…prepare to die
4 Likes
I was making a comment about the lack of scientific rigor, but if you want to take it in the freedoms direction:
sure, we know.
1 Like
i’m also betting on #2. What are the chances this happened in “prohibition county”?
those tests should be banned. to hinge people’s livelihoods on tests that so frequently false positive is criminal.
i’d say there is even grounds for a class action lawsuit for anyone who has lost a job due to those tests.
4 Likes
Here is another place where the SI prefixes could be very helpful.
First off, we would need a quantifiable definition of Villain. Perhaps then today’s “Supervillain” would equate to a GigaVillain (or perhaps a TeraVillain - the headlines write themselves)
An maybe someone isn’t quite “evil” enough to be a full villain. (vandals, thugs, people who write checks in the express lanes, various minor DNC staffers) and they’d be DeciVillains or perhaps CentiVillains)
2 Likes
Maybe this will drive home to the public how absurdly unreliable those field testing kits are, and how dangerous they are in the hands of people who take the results as gospel. The majority of the public will probably just shrug it off, but maybe a few folks will be outraged and will raise a big stink.
From the linked article:
Saturday, the sheriff’s office said that investigation will continue.
I’m sure that news surprises absolutely no one here.
2 Likes
Called it.
Colorado, which received close to $588 million in revenue from recreational marijuana in 2015 (plus some $408 million from medical marijuana sales, which also include edibles), is struggling to contain the unintended consequences of its booming new industry. Last week, the town of Hugo ordered residents to stop drinking tap water because the municipal supply had tested positive for THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana.
( http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/health/marijuana-edibles-are-getting-into-colorado-childrens-hands-study-says.html )
@NYT: Why did you publish this hogwash? Colorado is not “struggling” to contain anything. Does it serve your intransigent anti-legalization agenda to omit the true conclusion to the Hugo Colorado controversy/hoax that broke over two days ago? How are any of your sensational claims defensible?
I’m probably the worst person to ask about this… I work for a real lab that, among the more lucrative medical work, does drug testing properly, i.e., EIA testing of blood and urine only, with GC/MS confirmation. I’ve never seen a false positive, though I have seen positives caused by masking agents that were deliberately taken to avoid coming up positive for something else.
2 Likes
now I want a job where I can handle millions in cash with heavy equipment
3 Likes
I had to carry some bags containing one thousand pound coins each (working at a football ground, the money was for the turnstyles). I could have used some heavy machinery then.
2 Likes
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
