The company then tested the tap water, anticipating that it would serve as a control for further tests by showing what an absolute negative result would look like, Lincoln County sheriff’s Capt. Michael Yowell said.
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It is safe for Hugo residents to shower, bathe, and wash clothes in the water, but not ingest it, said the Colorado Department of Health.
Authorities say new tests show there is no evidence of a marijuana chemical in a Colorado community’s tap water and they believe the initial tests were false.
Officials are distributing thousands of water bottles to residents in the meantime, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office announced on Twitter.
The Lincoln County’s public health office posted note on Facebook downplaying fears of possible health consequences, while saying it would be reasonable to avoid drinking or cooking with the water.
“It’s quite an inconvenience cause if you got animals, you’ve got to give them bottled water.:01 You don’t want to hallucinate your dog or your cat”, Sam Stalford, resident said.
The discovery was made by a local company following simple “field tests” which returned a “positive” result for the presence of what health authorities have described as “marijuana THC-related”, reported Reuters.
Consuming water containing THC would be similar to eating marijuana-infused food, meaning the effect would depend entirely on how much was consumed and the strength of the tainted water.
The contaminated well has been closed but preliminary tests suggest the entire water supply has been affected, Yowell said.
“Kinda bad when a little town like this, somebody dumped something in the damn water, especially something from marijuana”, Hugo resident Skip Tracy said.
The Hugo well has been sealed and secured, but officials said it will take time for water to flush through the lines.
There is just one problem: THC in not “water soluble”, which means that is can not be dissolved in water.
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Of ten samples taken during a routine drug screening Thursday – six came back positive for THC.
