Eugene police are investigating a possible hash oil explosion that injured a man Tuesday in west Eugene.

Police and fire crews were called to the 2900 block of Roosevelt Boulevard near Seneca Street around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday for a report of an explosion.

A man was taken to a Portland hospital for treatment of his injuries, police said. His condition is unknown.

Police believe the explosion was related to butane hash oil manufacturing, an illegal activity without a license.

Butane hash oil is a concentrated form of marijuana extracted using highly flammable or combustible solvents. It typically is made by dissolving marijuana leaves in liquid butane, then cooking it.



Four to five times more potent than regular marijuana, hash oil is typically consumed using pen-like devices or specially outfitted pipes called oil rigs.



Oregon only allows licensed manufacturers to legally produce hash oil because butane extraction methods are particularly dangerous when done indoors because fumes can linger in the air and ignite, sometimes with a single spark.



In 2016, a Springfield man became the first to be charged in Lane County with illegally making a cannabinoid extract, despite several fires in past years that were a result of explosions related to hash oil manufacturing. The charge came soon after Gov. Kate Brown signed into law a bill that makes the unlicensed manufacture of marijuana extracts illegal.



Last year, a Cottage Grove man was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for a 2017 warehouse hash oil explosion.

Last month, a 45-year-old man who had been squatting in a building on Olive Street with his wife, was burned in a suspected hash oil explosion.