Colorado hash-making limits face 1st hearing

<p>(AP Photo/Central Pierce Fire and Rescue)</p>
<p>Marijuana was illegally being processed into hash oil at this home in Washington state in 2014. Hundreds of butane canisters used in the process exploded. </p>
Photo: Hash oil explosion (AP Photo)
Marijuana was illegally being processed into hash oil at this home in Washington state in 2014. Hundreds of butane canisters used in the process exploded.

A House committee starts work Thursday on a proposal to make it a felony to use explosive gases to make hash oil at home.

The bill follows a rash of explosions and injuries resulting from amateur hash oil production.

Lawmakers in Washington state are mulling similar limits. The city of Denver already bans some types of home hash production.

In Colorado, at least 30 people were injured last year in 32 butane explosions involving hash oil. That's according to the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, a state-federal enforcement program.