Homeless in Arizona

I always thought that if you could legally grow medical marijuana, or legally possess medical marijuana you could legally make hash oil from marijuana???

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said there are 18 people who acted as legally-licensed marijuana sellers, but he said they illegally converted marijuana into hashish oil without a license.

Source

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office serves search warrants on south Phoenix marijuana operation

Kayla King-Sumner, The Republic | azcentral.com 12:26 p.m. MST September 28, 2016

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office served five search warrants Wednesday morning at what officials described as a large-scale marijuana operation.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said there are 18 people who acted as legally-licensed marijuana sellers, but he said they illegally converted marijuana into hashish oil without a license.

Deputies searched private residences where marijuana was grown and a lab near 40th Street and Southern Avenue, which served as a center to convert marijuana into hashish oil. More than $1 million worth of equipment was recovered at the south Phoenix lab, officials said.

Three suspects have been arrested, and deputies are searching for 15 others, Arpaio said.

The hashish oil is often distributed for use in marijuana-based desserts like brownies and cookies, according to Arpaio.

"Most of this operation had to do with making money ... so we plan on charging these people with fraud," Arpaio said.

The investigation began several months ago after the Sheriff's Office received a tip about the operation. The Arizona High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, a multiagency drug task force, investigated the drug-conversion operation over the summer.

Arpaio said he's concerned because equipment in the lab was highly flammable, and could have possibly caused damage to surrounding businesses.

A marijuana drug blast killed a New York City fire battalion chief yesterday at a residence in Bronx. Around 20 other people sustained minor injuries in that explosion.