There are more ways to ingest marijuana than most non-users could probably dream of. You can smoke bongs or joints, eat it in foods like the infamous pot brownie, vape or inhale it, brew it into teas or other drinks, make it into an oil and apply it topically, eat it raw, and even use it as a suppository. One method that has become increasingly popular in recent years is called dabbing.
Dabs are concentrated doses of cannabis. First, you take concentrated cannabis oil and drop a small amount on a hot surface, allowing it to vaporize. To extract the essential oil, you typically use a chemical solvent such as butane, CO2, or propane, or there are mechanical means such as filtration screens. These concentrates end up in different forms, depending on the method used for extraction, and that also gives them their different names. Wax, shatter, live resin, bubble hash, rosin, and keef are just a few. Whatever the form, this concentrated cannabis is extremely pure and very potent, containing between 50 percent and 95 percent THC.
The concentrate is placed on a hot surface, where it essentially boils away and turns into a vapor. This can be done with a glass pipe similar to a traditional bong. A typical dabbing setup involves the glass pipe, the nail (slim a metal or quartz piece attached to the rig; it’s what is actually heated up), the dabber (a tool that holds the dab of concentrate), and a torch to do the heating. There are also self-heating electronic nails.
When someone experienced makes the concentrate, it can be cleaner and theoretically safer than other means of ingestion. There is no plant matter and none of the usually harmful side effects of smoking. When poorly made, however, you might end up inhaling residual solvent, mold, and concentrated pesticides from the plants you made it from. When it’s made at home, most people don’t have the tools on hand to test it for purity.
The degree of heat also plays a role in which harmful chemicals get released. The higher the heat, the more carcinogens, toxins, and other irritants are produced. According to a study published in September of 2017 in the American Chemical Society’s ACS Omega, dabbing can expose users to more toxins than other methods of marijuana use.
Researchers at Portland State University discovered that concentrations subjected to higher heat released higher levels of benzene. Benzene is a known carcinogen that can cause skin irritation, eye irritation, genetic defects, cancer, organ damage, coma, and even death.
Apart from the possible health effects of ingestion, the process of extracting the oil can be dangerous. There have been reports of explosions caused by a combination of the flammable gases and poor ventilation.
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