Pubdate: Thu, 06 Feb 2014
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Joe Mozingo

BLOWING UP

Burn Clinics Are Treating Dozens of Butane Hash 'Chefs' Critically 
Injured by Explosions During the Dangerous Process, a Product of 
California's Unregulated Marijuana Industry.

The "chef " hunkered over a batch of hash oil he was making in a 
kitchen in Redondo Beach, using a common but extremely dangerous 
method known as "open blasting."

The 26-year-old meticulously stirred and heated the marijuana extract 
into the highest clarity, slowly producing "butane honey oil" that 
would be as clear and pure as amber.

This potent type of hash, also called "wax," has taken off in the 
marijuana market with the rise of electronic cigarettes and other 
vaporizing devices. Dabs of it can be vaporized and inhaled without 
the smoke and pungent odor of weed, an act called "dabbing." And they 
bring on a soaring high even among longtime cannabis smokers who have 
a strong tolerance for the drug.

But the butane used to extract the essential oil of the marijuana 
plant frequently blows up in the faces of the people making the wax.

In the last 14 months, at least 17 cooks and bystanders have landed 
in Southern California burn centers with catastrophic injuries, a 
toll far worse than from meth lab explosions. In Northern California, 
the UC Davis Health System's burn unit treated 27 victims last year 
with similar injuries, and six have come in during the last two 
weeks. Officials suspect that the overall numbers are much higher 
because victims don't disclose the illicit cause of their injuries. 
The Redondo chef, who asked to withhold his name because making this 
type of hash is a felony, started by packing a glass pipe with 
discarded marijuana trimmings. He put vinyl mesh over one end and 
sprayed a high-pressure canister of liquid butane in the other end. 
The butane - better known as lighter fluid - bonded with the resin 
glands in the marijuana, and the solution poured into a Pyrex baking 
dish placed in a larger dish of nearly boiling water.

He stirred and heated it for hours, while butane slowly evaporated 
out of the solution to leave the purified, nonexplosive wax. All that 
time, the butane gas was spilling into the air.

Explosive gas

"When butane is expelled into a room, it is odorless and colorless," 
said Ashley Rosen, a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney in 
the major narcotics division. "It builds up in the room until it's 
basically a bomb."

Rosen first heard of a butane hash explosion in January 2013, and 
since then has prosecuted 26 people under a law originally designed 
to stop PCP and meth manufacturing.

The explosions are a growing side effect of California's unregulated 
medical marijuana industry. The act of manufacturing butane hash is a 
criminal offense, but pot supply stores can legally sell the butane 
canisters, dispensaries can sell the hash and anyone with a doctor's 
recommendation can buy marijuana and "vape" it.

In other words, there is a legal, lucrative market for a product that 
is illegal to make.

Safer forms of production exist where it is sanctioned and regulated 
under state law. In Colorado's highly controlled market, state 
officials this month set forth rules requiring hash oil producers to 
follow the same procedures that manufacturers use to extract oils 
from plants to make canola oil, fragrances, food additives, 
pharmaceuticals and shampoo.

Butane extraction must be done in a closed loop system so that no 
vapor escapes, in rooms with powerful ventilation systems. And the 
facilities must comply with health and safety codes and be inspected 
by a certified industrial hygienist or professional engineer.

"I'm glad to see open blasting go the way of the dodo," said Ry 
Prichard, a dab enthusiast in Colorado who works with a company that 
makes butane honey oil.

In California, which was once at the forefront of the legalization 
movement, open blasting is still the norm.

With less than $20 worth of equipment, clandestine "blasters" can do 
it in their garages, kitchens and backyards. There are safer and 
potentially legal ways for the home cook to make hash - which has 
been smoked in some form for millennia - but the butane-extracted 
variety is considered extremely potent.

The best safety measure is to work outside, but many makers don't 
because discovery could bring them seven years in prison.

The Redondo chef worked next to a fan in an open window - with the 
curtain mostly closed so neighbors couldn't see. He made sure he 
didn't drag his feet on the carpet to generate static. He moved 
slowly so as not to bump something with the glass tube and cause a spark.

But he knew that none of this is fail-safe. The fan could have an 
internal spark.

Many explosions occur when people put their solution on hold in the 
refrigerator before they have boiled away the butane. The heavy vapor 
seeps around the wiring in the cooler and blows up.

Or people forget that a pilot light is on. Or someone lights a joint 
in the next room.

Burn victims

Dr. Peter Grossman, codirector of the Grossman Burn Centers, has 
treated 12 butane hash makers for catastrophic burns since late 2012. 
The deep f lash burns covered 25% to 95% of their bodies. All the 
patients required skin grafts and weeks in the hospital. Many will 
need years of reconstructive surgery and will never look the same again.

"We've seen complications that have led to lower leg amputations," 
Grossman said. "We've seen significant disfigurement to the face. The 
cost of getting a high is a lot more expensive than these people think."

One victim in his 30s, who did not want to use his name, ran outside 
after his batch exploded. He ripped off his burning shirt and his 
nylon shorts before passing out in pain. He woke up at a Southern 
California burn center three weeks later with second- and 
third-degree burns over 51% of his body, including most of his face.

He stayed there 91 days and had 16 skin grafts. He has just started 
walking again, requires steroid injections every month and needs many 
more facial surgeries.

He thinks a static spark from his shirt ignited the butane. He had 
taken the same precautions as the Redondo cook - an open window, a 
fan and the pilot light turned off.

"You think you're doing everything to prevent a fire," he said. "But 
anything can happen. Your life is worth more than money."

A powerful high

But for now, that money is luring people to take the risks. A hash 
maker can get a pound of marijuana "trim" - the discarded leaves cut 
off salable cannabis buds - for $50 to $100. The butane will cost 
$30. The process should net at least 20 grams of wax, which can be 
sold to dispensaries for well over $400.

A lot of younger pot users prefer dabbing, as well as some medical 
users who don't want to inhale smoke. The content of the psychoactive 
molecule THC in wax can be more than 70%, compared with less than 20% 
of most marijuana.

"One of my friends came over and wanted to try wax," said Nicole, 22, 
of Huntington Beach, who asked to withhold her last name. "I let her 
take a toke, and she was like, 'Why did you do that to me?' " The 
high was too intense. But some see dabs as the future. Concentrates, 
in general, are big business - in marijuana-infused foods, tinctures 
and drinks.

"Some people don't want to smoke because smoking is so out of vogue 
in general," said Prichard, the Colorado dabber. "It's a quick dose. 
I prefer it because I don't like sitting around 10 minutes smoking a joint."

Prichard said companies are still working to perfect the vapor 
device. Some mix the oil with propylene glycol to make a liquid that 
can be put it in plain e-cigarettes and vapor pens. But vaporizing 
the pure wax dabs is often done in what looks like an elaborate crack pipe.

"The torch is kind of off-putting," Prichard said. "Kind of hard-druggy."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom