Pubdate: Thu, 25 Jul 2013
Source: Boulder Weekly (CO)
Copyright: 2013 Boulder Weekly
Contact:  http://www.boulderweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/57
Column: Weed Between the Lines

GETTING HIGH GOES HIGH-TECH

You still smoke weed? That's adorable. How quaint.

Boulder's more dedicated stoners rarely smoke actual marijuana. They
smoke "oil." (Oil also goes by wax, butter, shatter and unusual
spellings like "errl.")

Some say these concentrates are dangerous. Others say they're an
improvement on marijuana and hash. They're definitely different: While
the old hash was made with water, the new hash oils are usually made
with butane. And as producers have embraced technology and chemical
solvents, hash oil's popularity has exploded.

"I get more calls about oil or wax than I do about weed," says Aaron
Shaw, owner of Boulder RX, a dispensary on the Pearl Street Mall.

Oil hits are called "dabs" because of a common practice. The oil is
"dabbed" onto special bong-attachment hardware that's been preheated
with a blowtorch, like a creme-brulee torch. The oil vaporizes
instantly; you inhale through a glass dome or straw. Coughing ensues.
Hopefully you don't vomit. Then you're outrageously high for hours.

The buzz has generated a "dab culture" with its own events and a
roving party bus giving out free dabs in Denver.

And it must be boosting Colorado's torch sales. (You're welcome,
creme-brulee torch industry.)

You can also smoke hash oil without a blowtorch. You don't even need a
lighter to use vaporizer pens, the electronic cigarettes containing
hash oil "cartridges."

They're conveniently discreet, with hardly any smell or smoke. Push a
button, and the "atomizer" heats the pen enough to boil the oil inside.

Pens can be charged with a USB cord. Plugged into your laptop, they're
a technological leap from a doobie.

The pens almost make butane lighters obsolete - but not butane itself.
Butane is used to concentrate marijuana's chemical compounds. Then it
hopefully gets burned off, leaving the concentrated cannabinoids. But
varying levels of butane remain, raising concerns. Local dispensary
The Farm has taken a firm stance against butane hash oil. (It offers
"CO2 oil" instead.)

Research on butane's effects is scarce. So discerning patients are
looking for the cleanest concentrates, Shaw says. Wax sales have
fallen, while "shatter" sales have exploded, because patients
recognize that butane is more effectively purged from the glassy amber
sheets. And new extractor machines are constantly being developed.

"Our new machine recycles the butane that's used," says Brad
Melshenker, who owns Boulder dispensary The Greenest Green. His newest
facility, 710 Labs, just became the first licensed by the city of
Boulder to make butane hash oil, he says.

"The city was very cautious in licensing us," he says. The process
took 10 months, involving the fire department, safety engineers, a
scientist and an industrial hygienist.

Because butane is explosive, extraction safety is a concern noted even
by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). "Explosions in
residences and hotels around the country," FEMA warned in February,
"are being traced back to a process: using butane to extract and
concentrate compounds from marijuana."

But butane extraction can be done safely, according to Melshenker. The
new 710 Labs use "research N-butane," he says, because it's more
refined than the butane in lighters. (The city does not regulate the
grade of butane, but it does require that his oil machine be "ETL or
UL listed," a safety credential required on most industrial equipment.)

"Some call it extract art," Melshenker says. "I think of it as
science. My passion has changed from the flowers. Oil just has more
flavor."

Melshenker says it's not necessarily about getting higher. His
facility may soon produce a less-potent oil variety that simply tastes
better than marijuana.

At Boulder RX, some patients have found oil more effective at treating
their pain, Shaw says.

Most dispensaries send their trim (resin-coated leaves) to separate
processing companies that produce their hash oil. Facilities process
several pounds every day in a constant struggle to "feed the machine."

And appetites for oil keep growing. Earlier this month, Denver hosted
the 710 Cup, where those who enjoy concentrates could congregate. At a
separate sampling party called "Dabs of Denver," crowds were told they
were making history by celebrating the new 4/20 - on 7/10. It's a more
refined holiday, with less actual weed. Why? If you look at 710 upside
down, it spells OIL. (It's marketing magic - oil and gas executives
must be kicking themselves for not discovering this holiday first.)

The hash oil business is booming. Some call it the evolution of the
marijuana industry. Maybe this industry isn't that different from
others that handle crops and medicines: As processes grow more
efficient, products bear less resemblance to plants. Now there are
vaporizers you can plug into your computer, and machines that churn
out great quantities of hash oil daily. Soon, there may be pills with
only a single cannabinoid (of the dozens in marijuana) isolated in a
lab.

Why stop there? Maybe we'll see vaporizing zip drives and smartphone
apps, or plug-in air-fresheners that infuse your living room with hash
oil vapor. As the industry grows more sophisticated, the possibilities
are endless.

Maybe, someday, the businesses will even be allowed to have bank
accounts.
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MAP posted-by: Matt