NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 52

tirely new world now than we were in 2009," he added. "The evolution of the industry, in general, has been fairly amazing. We've seen decades worth of technological advancement in just a seven-year period, and it continues." Across town, the plain and nameless industrial façade of The Clinic's 32,500-square-foot growing operation belies the sophistication inside. Each of the multiple grow rooms is wired with CO2 alarms and detectors that monitor and maintain gas concentrations and alert workers if there is a leak or other problem. A staff member with an iPad can monitor and adjust conditions and light levels in individual rooms with a push of a button. Automatic pumps feed water and nutrients from centralized tanks to plants throughout the facility. There's a genetics lab to create new strains, a room dedicated to drying and curing, special automated machines to trim buds, and constant experimentation with lighting and soils. It's light years from where The Clinic was in 2010 when it started in a 5,000-square-foot warehouse, Cook told me. It's clear that there is a lot more to the industry's transformation than regulation. While agencies made progress devising safety rules and catching up on a backlog of noncompliant facilities, the free market lent an enormous assist. Seeing that there were millions to be made, manufacturers began building modern, sophisticated equipment designed specifically for marijuana growing and extracting. Closedloop extractors, like those at Alpenglow and The Clinic, are now mandated across the state. Meanwhile, the approval of recreational marijuana use in 2012, and the advent of retail sales in 2014, cracked the market wide open, producing even more new technology and efficiencies that have led to higher yields and a greater supply of product. As a result, marijuana prices in Denver were cut by more than half in less than two years, from upward of $80 for an eighth of an ounce to $40 or less today, according to reports. Narrowing profit margins and increasing costs have resulted in significant industry consolidation. In a report last May, The Denver Post found that 10 people now control nearly 20 percent of Denver's 1,046 active medical and recreational licenses. "The numbers tell a story of a consolidating industry, as big operators buy small ones struggling to keep up with more government regulations, tax rules, and other pressures," the Post concluded. In essence, the industry has successfully transitioned from the basement to the boardroom. "With the requirements, a lot of guys couldn't afford it- they literally had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in mechanical and electrical costs to get up to code," Lowrey, the Boulder fire marshal, told me. "The people who were very serious about it were the businesses that survived." 52 NFPA JOURNAL SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 Bolder Cannabis and Extracts is one of the Boulder businesses that began in 2009 and is still thriving. Co-founder Spencer Uniss told me that his company had only $10,000 and six lights in the beginning. "Now you need a million dollars just to start out in this business," he said. While some mom-and-pop shops in the state have decried the trend toward consolidation, safety officials have welcomed the maturation of the industry, which they see as having brought an equilibrium and professionalism to the trade that didn't exist six years ago. Boulder now has about 80 licensed marijuana facilities, just over half the number it had in the absence of regulation. The ones that remain are diligent and focused when it comes to safety issues, according to Mike Rangel, Boulder's assistant fire marshal. "They've transitioned to become some of the better folks out there to work with," Rangel told me. "If there is any violation, they take care of it quickly, because they have a lot of money invested and they don't want to lose it." The most common violation Rangel sees these days: burntout bulbs in exit lights. Lingering problems, and the need for consistency While regulation of the commercial marijuana industry in Colorado has come a long way, the situation remains dynamic as the burgeoning industry evolves. There are nagging issues Colorado hasn't yet solved. For one, while larger and more affluent districts such as Boulder, Breckenridge, and Denver have spent a great deal of time and resources bringing the industry up to code, that is not the case everywhere. "Realistically, a lot of communities don't have a handle on this yet, and don't know where to start," Lowery said. "They might not be as familiar with the code, because they don't have the resources; maybe they're part-time, if not full volunteer departments." As a result, Lowrey believes shoddy, if not illegal, pot operations remain across the state, similar to the hazard-filled grows he encountered in 2009. In March, the Fire Marshal's Association of Colorado put out a 25-page reference guide covering regulations related to marijuana facilities to help jurisdictions with fewer resources. In Boulder the situation is acute. Just across the city line, in Boulder County, there are several grow operations that one marijuana purveyor I spoke to referred to as "Frankenstein grows." He described a maze of plants, spreading out through room after room; plastic tarps; and jumbles of wires and overloaded electrical outlets. The county, lacking the resources of Boulder, is far behind the city in adopting regulations and oversight, Rangel told me. As a result, the city

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