Dabs of concentrated marijuana or the active compound in the drug called THC are used, and these dabs are smoked out of a water pipe to vaporize the substance. A new study shows that this practice can be extremely dangerous, leading to serious burns and other medical problems. Dab production involves using butane gas to obtain the marijuana concentrate, and this leads to risks of explosions, fires, and severe burns. According to University of North Carolina at Charlotte assistant professor of criminology and lead study author John Stogner “Given the amount of butane that can build up during this process, these individuals should be worried about any spark from any source.”
The increase in popularity of pot dabbing has many in the medical and law enforcement field concerned about this form of marijuana use. In addition to the high risk of fire, explosion, and severe burns another area of concern is the potency of the dabs. Since this form of marijuana is highly concentrated it is far more powerful. According to Partnership for Drug-Free Kids parent support network manager Heather Senior “We know that it is more potent than smoking marijuana. You don’t know what concentrate you’re going to be getting. It’s going to be a much higher dose, and kids might not be used to that. The landscape is drastically changing, and parents need to start learning how to have conversations around this with their children.”
