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Portland Fire & Rescue

What you need to know about butane hash oil explosions in Oregon

Though recreational marijuana sales have been legal in Oregon since 2015, the number of illicit butane hash oil labs like the recent one in North Portland have risen and along with them the number of serious injuries associated with butane-fueled explosions.

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Portland Fire & Rescue

Oregon's robust black market culture for marijuana and hash oils is partly driving the trend

Police in Oregon last year investigated 25 illegal BHO operations statewide, far eclipsing the number of meth labs reported by police. Since January, police have identified 19 illegal BHO labs, seven of them involving explosions.

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Noelle Crombie | The Oregonian/OregonLive

A new state law is intended to address the problem of butane blasts

Oregon lawmakers this year took steps to crack down on the practice, which Oregon State Police in a draft report in January called “the most immediate cannabis threat facing the state,” by making explosions tied to butane hash oil operations a felony.

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Portland Fire & Rescue

The Legacy Oregon Burn Center has treated 45 butane blast patients since 2014

Three people died from injuries related to BHO production this year, including two men at last month’s Portland blast and a Grants Pass man who asphyxiated in February when the bathroom filled with the odorless gas.

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Portland Fire & Rescue

Butane blast victims typically face long hospitalizations and recoveries

Butane blast injuries are extremely painful and can be disfiguring. They often requiring surgery, unusually long hospitalizations and recoveries that take months. Charges for burn center care can run up to $5,000 a day, said Dr. Niknam Eshraghi, a surgeon and director of the center.