NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 47

COVER STORY MARIJUANA INDUSTRY SAFETY Pot was a $1 BILLION INDUSTRY IN COLORADO group comprised of marijuana industry leadforcement practices in place to safeguard against last year, ers, equipment manufacturers, and fire officials, some of the unique hazards present in grow and mostly from Colorado, to craft a new chapter for with revenues extraction facilities. Inspectors who knew nothing NFPA 1, Fire Code, on marijuana grow and process- expected to about cannabis in 2010 can now describe with the ing facilities. The NFPA 1 technical committee will eclipse that detail of a trained horticulturist the entire grow cycle this year. of a marijuana plant and the equipment involved in its review the proposed text of the new chapter at its upcoming meeting in October. cultivation and processing. Fire marshals who hadn't heard of "A lot of jurisdictions are looking for guidance and they marijuana extraction a few years ago can explain the process need something now," said Kristin Bigda, principal fire almost as well as some of the lab directors I met. protection engineer at NFPA and staff liaison for NFPA 1, "There was a learning curve and there is still a lot of who has been guiding the task group. "At the same time, learning going on, but I think we're in a good place now," I think the industry also wants regulation. We are dealing Jackie Pike, Breckenridge's deputy fire marshal, told me. with an industry that may be new to fire codes, and there is an education that needs to take place about who NFPA is. The early days: 'Where do we even start?' We want to work with them." In 2010, few fire departments would have said they were in Once the NFPA 1 chapter is complete, a separate marijuana a "good place" with the pot industry. facilities standard addressing all aspects of marijuana growThough medical marijuana was legalized in 2000, the ing and processing could follow. In the interim, NFPA may modern era of pot in the state wasn't officially launched put out a guide or webpage that collects existing resources until October 2009, when the Obama Administration anand documents that pertain to marijuana facilities in one nounced that it would stop interfering in state-sanctioned place. "It took us six years to get to where we are now," said marijuana operations, a significant departure from the Lukus, a task group member, "but other jurisdictions should Bush Administration. Suddenly, a dormant industry that be able to adopt something and hit the ground running." had languished under federal restrictions sprang to life, well Many Colorado fire departments told me when I visited the ahead of a regulatory framework to govern it. state in July that they believe the substantial knowledge gap Boulder, a leafy, free-spirited college town in the shadow of has mostly been closed. This year, Denver adopted a compre- the Flatiron Mountains, proved particularly attractive to pot hensive chapter on marijuana facilities into its fire code. Many entrepreneurs. Dave Lowrey, chief fire marshal of Boulder Fire towns and cities from Breckenridge to Boulder also have Rescue, admitted that the city was caught off guard by the pot robust rules, inspection and permitting processes, and enindustry's emergence. City fire officials stumbled across their The Pot Industry Coast to Coast Marijuana is legal in some form in more than two-dozen states, with more states preparing to consider legalization. Industry growth comes with an array of safety concerns, which some observers say points to the need to develop pot-specific consensus codes and standards. Recreational & medicinal Medicinal Medicinal, with recreational on 2016 ballot Medicinal on 2016 ballot SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 NFPA JOURNAL 47

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2016