Part 1 of 2 (Part 2: Extreme Marijuana–Dabbing and Vaping)



“Dabbing” is a way to get the quickest, long-lasting high with a single inhale. In fact, a single puff from a pipe or vaping pen can give the effect of smoking many joints. Unfortunately for parents, the new vaping pens make it extremely difficult to see, smell or detect.

“Dabbing is to marijuana, as crack is to cocaine,” is a way it’s been explained. No one should ever try it, because the psychosis can be immediate, and, as a habit, it is nearly impossible to get unhooked.

Why, should parents worry? Because the pens go undetected and, secondly, because children are getting into pot at younger ages. Wheat Ridge, Colorado, is the site of Three Kings Dab Supply, a club where users bring their own dabs and party. According to a mom in Wheat Ridge, “Since legalization, marijuana has become a problem in the middle schools and has shown up in the elementary schools twice.”

Marijuana users suggest that kids use dabs, precisely because it can go undetected. Dabbing is actually more popular with the young users than with middle-aged adults, who often find it too strong.

How Dabs are Made

Dabbers take a tiny bit of butane hash oil, BHO — hardened or buttery, and quickly light it up in a small compartment. BHO is to marijuana, as crack is to cocaine.

Users have extracted the THC (the component in the marijuana plant that causes a high) from the plant to get maximum strength, usually using butane gas in some type of glass tube. When it first comes out it is an oil, but the oil becomes waxy or buttery before hardening into the bits. Hardened, it can be broken into tiny bits and give a high that last all day.

There are many nicknames for butane hash oil: “Wax,” “Honey oil,” “earwax,” “dabs” “shatter” and more. It could be smoked, vaped or infused into the edibles. Vaping is a concern, since the vape pens, meant for tobacco, are adapted to be used with concentrates or dabs of marijuana. It is a way that teens may be using marijuana without detection.

Dabbing is Growing in Popularity Especially Among Teens

In short, hash oil offers a quick and lasting high for users. A single hit can last more than a day. By making it, it costs a user about 50% less than it would by buying it from a licensed dispensary or maker.

One may think that experienced, middle-aged users would be most likely to dab. On the contrary, it is often the teens who go for the quick high, as well as the ease of use.

Dabbing packs such a wallop, it has been known to cause blackouts. Even insiders warn that injury and death are possible.

Police in California would like to see marijuana concentrates banned.

See part 2 of this article, Extreme Marijuana-Dangers of Dabbing and Vaping.