A hash oil explosion in North Portland on July 24, killed two men, annihilated a home and caused significant danger to the home next door. While the man next door explained that his wife was shook up and his children at day camp, the family cat died in the fire. The neighbor is lucky to be alive considering the extent of this explosion.
People use marijuana to make butane hash oil labs, also called honey oil. These are the dangerous drug labs that are blowing up people and homes, particularly in California and in the West.
By April, 2015, the California Alliance of Drug-Endangered Children had tracked 41 marijuana lab deaths in that state between 2011 and 2015. It’s not clear how many have happened since that time.
Other deaths, other states
To the recent deaths in Portland and 41 deaths in California by April 2015, we can add:
2 in Washington, Nan Campbell who died as a result of the massive Bellevue explosion in November 2013, and an elderly man in Spokane whose respiratory problems began as a result of the neighbor making BHO
1 man in Gresham, Oregon, June 14, 2013
1 grandmother in Minnesota whose grandson used her home to make BHO
2 in New York, including Michael Fahy. Fahy was the fire department captain who perished while putting out the fire in a marijuana grow lab in the Bronx on September 28, 2016. The other death in New York was 19-year-old Anthony Gambale from Brooklyn. He rallied to survive, but eventually died.
A two-month-old baby who slept adjacent to a room in Colorado where BHO was made.
1 man in Hawaii, January, 2014
1 man in Rhode Island, on July 31, 2015
A student from Radford University, Virginia, November 20, 2013
2 allegedly died after the Rio Dell, California, fire on November 9, 2016. The burns covered 90% of their bodies. By June, Stoppot had counted 22 hash oil explosions in California since the vote to legalize marijuana on November 8, 2016
Legal, legitimate Labs also Explode, Resulting Lawsuits
Advocates will say these deaths will stop if it’s regulated and only done in state licensed dispensaries. Fires have occurred in licensed dispensaries in California, Oregon, Washington, Michigan and New Mexico. The lab that exploded in New Mexico was one the state’s largest labs. One of the workers who suffered from extensive burn sued the dispensary.
A construction worker burned at the Oregon dispensary fire is now suing the medical marijuana owner.
We believe the regulation of butane will be difficult, just like all other regulation programs: https://www.facebook.com/lostcoastoutpost/videos
Michigan has explosions, too; next state to vote
Switching to propane won’t make it safer. One of the explosions at a legal dispensary near Saugatuck, Michigan was caused by propane.
Michigan is the next state with a ballot to legalize marijuana. However, Michigan has seen its share of hash oil explosions, most of them cause by medical marijuana patients. The one in Grand Rapids occurred with a six-year-old child in the home. Child abuse is always a concern at these labs, and two children were present during the recent fire in Niles Township, Michigan.
Firefighters find this type of fire, such as the one in Muskegon, more dangerous than regular house fires.