A Green Island man was left with burnt hands and a garden shed minus one wall after an explosion during a drug-making operation last month, the Dunedin District Court heard yesterday.
Self-employed designer William James White (29) was using butane to extract cannabis oil from plant material early on October 13 when an explosion blew out one wall of the shed, prosecutor Sergeant Chris George said.
Police arrived and found pieces of the wall sticking in the ground. White had burns to his hands. Fire officers made the shed safe and White was taken to Dunedin Hospital for treatment for his burns. When the shed was searched, police found cannabis resin, 509g of cannabis plant material and empty butane cannisters.
White was interviewed three days later and said he was extracting cannabis oil at the time. But he did not know what had caused the explosion. The cannabis oil was for his own use to regulate his depression and help him focus, he told police. He also said he had manufactured cannabis oil several times between March and the time of the explosion.
He yesterday admitted a charge of producing a class B controlled drug and was remanded on bail for sentence next month.
