Michael Leago, Boulder Man, Floods Apartment Running Home Medical Marijuana Growing Operation

Michael Leago, a 28-year-old Boulder man running a home medical marijuana growing operation, was ticketed for “prohibited acts of marijuana” after his water system overflowed and flooded a neighbor’s downstairs unit, CBSDenver reports.

According to The Daily Camera, Leago’s pot plants were on a large rubber mat but the water feed into a 55-gallon bucket had been left on and ran over onto a very cracked concrete floor which sent the water into the downstairs unit. Leago’s water and electrical system alterations to the unit for the grow operation were never sanctioned by a building permit and a city building inspector declared both units uninhabitable due to the damage.

The water had been seeping through floor cracks and down the wall of the condo for enough time that 3 to 4 inches of water was found in the lower unit, 7News reports.

Because of their often clandestine nature that leads to do-it-yourself plumbing and electrical work, Wheat Ridge police chief Dan Brennan told the Denver Post in early 2011 that besides possible flooding, home grow operations can also lead to fires started by faulty wiring.

Speaking at a news conference in 2010, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers also voiced concerns for responders that raid or clean up these home grow operations facing mold hazards and increased carbon monoxide levels.

But it’s not just equipment failure that have Colorado’s home marijuana grow rooms catching a lot of heat for being unsafe to residents and neighbors. Back in 2010, Westword reported about an 11-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself in the foot, presumably while guarding his parents grow. Shortly thereafter, a 10-month-old toddler was was hospitalized after eating home made marijuana trail mix, according to The Denver Post.

Comments

[lpcrsotp]

08:26 PM on 09/21/2011

It seems that it is difficult to keep up with minor things like water being on when you're smokin'

[lletaa]

04:46 PM on 09/21/2011

I'm an expert outdoor grower. If you grow outdoor under the natural sun you won't have any problems like this whatsoever!! Thats why when I get out of jail I'm going to grow in a subterainnian mine shaft so I'll be safe.

[anthonytaurus]

04:02 PM on 09/21/2011

I had a similar issue when I first started growing but it was nothing two towels couldn't handle, no flooding the down stairs apt. Beyond that, I had a plastic set up in such a way that it would create a 6" high pool in the closet in case any flooding did occur. So, I definitely had a back up plan in case something failed.

My system was basically a homemade Hydrofarm with a separate controller (not necessary at all) used to clean the water and send it back to the main bucket. It also doubled as an extra reservoir so that I could leave for extended periods. The connector to the water pump had a crack in it. I was gone for most of the day. When I got back, the water was pooled on the closet floor. I saw exactly why as water was still sputtering from the crack.

The extra controller did work as planned as I did leave for 2 weeks and came back to a still very healthy plant. Yay! Go me!

I've never had another flooding incident again. However, I've changed my grow system from that hydrofarm style to bubble buckets so much less water movement as I don't need water pumps anymore.

[Rational Voice]

02:51 PM on 09/21/2011

"Because of their often clandestine nature that leads to do-it-yourself plumbing and electrical work, [...] besides possible flooding, home grow operations can also lead to fires started by faulty wiring." ... which is entirely true ... but the key phrase in this sentence is "clandestine nature". The solution to these so-called problems is quite simple:

L E G A L I Z E .

[dbrett480]

02:27 PM on 09/21/2011

You do have to be careful with home grow operations. I've seem some guys that basically transitioned from meth labs to pot grows (with the expected results).

[rockysurfer]

12:05 PM on 09/21/2011

A friend did this while filling a waterbed in a 3rd story apartment 30 years ago, It wasn't newsworthy then and this story isn't now.

[Artamentous]

03:15 PM on 09/21/2011

lol

[Dave Price]

11:26 AM on 09/21/2011

How many times have apartments been flooded by bathtubs, or filling up a sink for dishes? this news is not news just silly hate towards medical mj.

[solar satellite]

11:22 PM on 09/20/2011

So what? The article is a hodgepodge of different imagined hazards hung on the non-story of malfunctioning plumbing arrangements. Hospitalization is more hazardous than an overdose of cannabis, but both children they have subjected to this treatment seem to have survived. Re-legalize cannabis for adult use and grow most of it outdoors under the Sun and there will be fewer such incidents, but stop and consider -- had Leago been growing just about anything other than cannabis and caused water damage to his neighbor's apartment: 1) he would not have been ticketed (for what he was growing, at least), 2) we would not know about it, and 3) he would have been no less liable for the damage.

[fumes]

10:50 PM on 09/20/2011

for the suffering neighbor below:

Marijuana blocks PTSD symptoms in rats: study
September 20th, 2011 in Psychology & Psychiatry
Marijuana administered in a timely fashion could block the development of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in rats, a new study conducted at Haifa University has found. "We also found that the effects of the cannabinoids were mediated by receptors in the amygdala area of the brain, known to be responsible for mediation of stress, fear and trauma," she noted.
http://medicalxpress.com/print235745341.html

[AlfredE69]

09:08 PM on 09/20/2011

Bummer dude, I take care of my plants first and then my plants take care of me. I other words, I don't care for them after I fire up, but care for them first and then take a toke or twelve.

[Jeffrey Bryson]

07:21 PM on 09/20/2011

If marijuana were legalized and regulated, we wouldn't have idiots ruining the neighbors' apartments like this, and we wouldn't have kids guarding crops.

[krikkitone]

08:46 PM on 09/20/2011

this weed was legal and he ruined the neighbors apartment anyway. legalizing it wont make idiots less idiotic.

[anthonytaurus]

03:47 PM on 09/21/2011

That's not necessarily true. It's just a flood that could happen with any hydroponic grow op. Granted, there would be less accidents overall, the idea that a faucet was left running is absolutely nothing new and doesn't mean it couldn't happen if the system were set up by a professional plumber. It still relies on humans to manage it... properly.

[fumes]

06:46 PM on 09/20/2011

this is all very preventable:

1. capture and incarcerate millions of people or..

2. just legalize