Category Archives: Hash Oil

Explosions last weekend highlight Michigan’s problem controlling BHO

Two explosions in one weekend

Two Butane Hash Oil (BHO) explosions ignited in Michigan last weekend, when amateurs were attempting to extract THC from marijuana to make “dabs.”  Michigan’s BHO problem will grow into a bigger problem, because legalizers succeeded in getting marijuana on the ballot in November.  (Read this article to understand the difference between decriminalization and legalization.)

On Saturday, January 20 in Orion Township, a tenant was making BHO  when he suddenly tried to light a cigarette, and everything exploded. The “victim”/maker of the substance was badly burned on his arms and face.   He’s been hospitalized, but the other four roommates made  it out of the house unharmed. Continue reading Explosions last weekend highlight Michigan’s problem controlling BHO

Deaths in Butane Hash Oil Labs Rise, Along with Lawsuits

Tracking Deaths from Hash Oil Labs Exposes the Growing Danger

People use marijuana to make butane hash oil , also called honey oil.  Hash oil labs using marijuana have replaced meth labs as the most dangerous drug labs of our time.   They are blowing up people and homes, particularly in California and in the West.

By April, 2015, the California Alliance of Drug-Endangered Children had tracked 41 marijuana lab deaths in that state between 2011 and April, 2015.  Three children had died by that time and several more were injured.   More recent information on the deaths in California  aren’t available at this time.

In California, they call it “honey oil” to disguise its connection to marijuana.  When fires are reported on the news, reporters often don’t mention the connection to marijuana.

To the 41 deaths in California, we can add:

1 two-month-old baby who slept adjacent to a room in Colorado where BHO was made.

2 in Washington, including Nan Campbell who died as a result of the massive Bellevue explosion in November 2013.  An elderly man in Spokane whose respiratory problems resulted after a neighbor made BHO died after two months in the hospital.

1 grandmother in Minnesota whose grandson used her home to make BHO

2 in New York, including Michael Fahy.  Fahy was the fire  captain who perished while putting out the fire in a marijuana grow lab in the Bronx.   The other death in New York was 19-year-old Anthony Gambale from Brooklyn.     He rallied to survive, but eventually died.

1 man in Gresham, Oregon, who died June 14, 2013, six weeks after the explosion

1 college student in Radford, Virginia

1 man in Hawaii, January, 2014

1 man in Rhode Island, explosion, on July 31, 2015.   He died three months later.

Above and top, explosion in New York  on September 27, 2016. Fire Captain Michael Fahy died after fighting the blaze. Fire fighters claim drug lab fires are more difficult to put out than ordinary house fires, because of the way debris shoots and explodes. Photos WABC-TV, via AP

2 allegedly died after the Rio Dell fire on November 9, 2016.  The burns covered 90% of their bodies.   At least 22 hash oil explosions have occurred in California since the vote to legalize marijuana on November 8, 2016.

Legal, legitimate Labs also Explode, Resulting Lawsuits

Advocates will say these deaths will stop if it’s regulated and  allowed only in state-licensed dispensaries.  However, fires have occurred in licensed dispensaries in California, Oregon, Washington, Michigan and New Mexico.    The lab that exploded in New Mexico was one the state’s largest marijuana companies.   One of the workers who suffered from extensive burns in the fire sued the dispensary.

A construction worker burned at the Oregon dispensary fire is now suing the medical marijuana owner.

Switching to propane won’t make it safer.   Propane caused the explosion at a legal dispensary/warehouse near Saugatuck, Michigan.

Michigan or Rhode Island could be the next state to legalize marijuana.  However,  Michigan has seen its share of hash oil explosions, most of them caused by medical marijuana patients.   The one in Grand Rapids occurred with a six-year-old child in the home.    Firefighters fighting this type of fire, such as the one in Muskegon, find them more dangerous than regular house fires.    Child abuse is always a concern at these labs, and two children were present during the recent fire in Niles Township, Michigan.

We believe the regulation of butane will be very difficult, just like all other regulation programs that try to regulate these labs:  https://www.facebook.com/lostcoastoutpost/videos.   In short, regulating marijuana dispensaries is a terrible task. It doesn’t work.

Butane Hash Oil Fires Don’t End with Legalized Marijuana

Butane Hash Oil  Labs are a Byproduct of Marijuana Commercialization

On the first day pot was 100% legal in California, three men in Humboldt County celebrated their marijuana freedom by extracting butane hash oil (BHO) from marijuana.  Their actions sparked a fire.  Helicopters airlifted the injured men to UC Davis Hospital because their burns were so extensive.   It is rumored that two of the men died.

Car fire in Arcata, on November 2, 2016. There have been 5 BHO fires in the same county, Humboldt, since the vote to legalize on November 8

Wasn’t legalization going to solve these problems?  No, because “wax,” “shatter,” “budder” — the products made from BHO and sold in dispensaries — are more expensive than homemade stuff.

On November 2, seven days before pot became legal, a BHO fire exploded a car in Arcata, CA.  A similar fire on January 14, 2017, totaled a home near Arcata in Humboldt County, injuring two people. It was the fourth BHO lab discovered in Humboldt County  since legalization.   (The photo above is from a car fire in Arcata on November 2, 2016.)   

Overhead Video of Last Night’s Fire Before Fire Crews Arrive on Scene

BHO or butane hash oil, which Californians call “honey oil” is a highly potent extract of the marijuana plant. Continue reading Butane Hash Oil Fires Don’t End with Legalized Marijuana

BHO Fires, Other Dangers for Older Children of Stoner Parents

(Read Part1 of this series on older children with pot-using parents. Upload our fact sheet about children’s death related to marijuana use.)

Infants and toddlers are vulnerable to negligence and abuse by marijuana-using parents. How are older children vulnerable?  In Gresham, Oregon on September 25, a mother suffering from anxiety who used marijuana several times a day, shot and killed her 17-year-old son.  The recently-divorced mom was losing her home, had quit her job and was suffering from anxiety. The stress of her situation is understandable, but marijuana is the wrong way to cope with stress.  It ultimately increases anxiety and can lead to psychosis, too.

BHO Fires are a Threat to Children

Another big problem is butane hash oil fires. Two years ago in Medford, Oregon, a 12-year old girl jumped out of the second story window and sustained several broken bones Continue reading BHO Fires, Other Dangers for Older Children of Stoner Parents