This article was originally published on the Marijuana Patients Organization site on August 17, 2013.
For those unfamiliar with concentrates or hash, let me explain it relative to alcohol. If you had a beer, that would be like smoking a joint, you only get about 3-10% alcohol. Schnapps is 80 proof or 40% alcohol, much like cold water extraction or regular brown hash which yields 30-50% of the medicine, leaving 50-70% of the unusable plant matter. Butane extraction produces more of the medicine, up to 80% in some instances, similar to a vodka.
There is a lot of debate recently about hash concentrates, particularly those that are concentrated with the help of butane oil (BHO) compared to other methods like cold water or alcohol extraction.
Just like the distiller, you want the manufacturer of BHO to burn off all of the butane (the bad stuff) throughout the process. Those inexperienced harvesters some times undershoot this step, leaving butane left for the consumer, or in some instances extractors can blow their home up. It is recommended never to extract using butane unless you are experienced, and never indoors of a residence.
While many claim that this method (BHO) purifies the most amount of plant material from the resin (though never 100%) and can yield as much as an 80% mixture of medicine to 20% plant material , the alternative would be to consume 100% unrefined cannabis, you would be ingesting 80-90% plant material and only 10-20% medicine.
There are no factual studies to support either claim, nor any reports of serious illness from BHO. After some research, I have concluded that it is important to trust your source of BHO. And while I read of no deaths, consuming butane doesn’t sound great to me.
Regulators and Judges have been trying to mandate or restrict BHO products for years, especially here in Michigan. So what should we do here in Michigan? Nothing. The law protects the use of BHO, despite detractors, and free markets have proven the most effective way to ensure safe manufacture. No reports in civilized-medical-marijuana states of bad BHO contamination outbreaks.