A hazardous new high: ‘butane honey oil’

A butane hash “chef” packs a pipe with marijuana trimmings that will be used to make butane hash. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Feb. 5, 2014 5:11 PM PT

“Butane honey oil” is a super-potent type of hash that has surged on the marijuana market. The “dabs” of oil can be vaporized and inhaled without the pungent smell of weed, and produce a soaring high for even longtime cannabis smokers with a strong tolerance for the drug. But it has also blown up in the faces of those making it, sending at least 17 people with catastrophic injuries to burn centers in Southern California in the last 14 months.

Butane hash drips through vinyl mesh into a glass pan in an apartment in Redondo Beach. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A “chef” makes butane hash on top of a stove. The process is dangerous because butane accumulates and can explode. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

An unidentified man shows a small container of butane hash in an apartment in Redondo Beach. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A butane hash chef makes pure, amber “butane honey oil” which he spreads on a piece of wax paper where it will solidify and eventually be sold. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)