Take an inside look at the business of hash oil
The term “hash oil” has been in the news quite often but what is it and what does it really mean? One medical cannabis business in Coachella is manufacturing the substance as part of the budding industry in the Coachella Valley.
Del-Gro, produces the oil for various clients statewide and plan on ramping up their production with some new machinery coming in.
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“So this unit we’re looking at is a placeholder,” Ben Levine, CEO of De-Gro, said. “Most likely we’ll still utilize it in the future but on July 11th, we’re receiving our 100 gallon system will be the largest in the world of its kind. It’s a closed loop system that is capable of producing 4,000 kilos of crude a month and over 2000 kilos of clear oil a month.”
Read: KESQ News Channel 3 I-Team Investigative Reports
Creating the hash oil requires harvested marijuana plants, or “trim” acquired from legal grows in California. The trim is then mixed with ethanol. That mixture is then taken to a machine that uses a water system to boil the mixture at 80 degrees in a vacuum seal to extract crude oil. The crude oil can then either be sold as is, or further processed to create a clearer, purer oil. The oil can be used in a variety of products.
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“It can be used for things like trans-dermal patches,” Levine said. “It could be used for e-cigarette cartridges. It can be used for shatters…be used to turn into edibles. There’s a number of different platforms that the oil can be transitioned to.”
It can be a dangerous procedure though, especially when people try to extract the oil in their own homes causing explosive butane hash oil lab fires.
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According to CAL FIRE, the have responded to six hash oil lab fires in Riverside County within the last year, with two of them in the Coachella Valley. The fires can create an even more dangerous situation for first responders.
“Every fire has a certain amount of risk to it,” CAL FIRE deputy chief, Daniel Talbot, said. “These have some added risks because we’re injecting chemicals that are dangerous that are not normally found in a single family dwelling or non-commercial type occupancy.” A vast majority of those types of fires had one chemical in common, butane. “It is done using butane which is a highly flammable liquid which when exposed to an open flame in the right proportions can explode,” Talbot said. He said the main difference between am illegal operation at somebody’s home and a legitimate business such as Del-Gro, is the regulation and inspection by firefighters to ensure safety. “At the commercial production, it’s a closed loop meaning that when flammable liquids or vapors are used, that they’re within a closed container. That they’re not allowed into the atmosphere were they can find an ignition source and explode.” Levine said he has take make a major investment to ensure his facility met CAL FIRE’s approval and spent around $1.2 million for equipment and other upgrades. “We have done everything that fire has asked for,” he said. “We have emergency cutoff systems, ansel systems. We have fail-safe upon fail-safe. All our containers are bomb-proof.” Ultimately both Talbot and Levine say any hash oil operation should left to legitimate businesses. “Definitely don’t recommend trying to extract on your own,” Levien said. “Volatile extraction is something that needs to be taken seriously can result in injury if not done in the right manner.”
News Channel 3’s Jeremy Chen spoke Del-Gro and CAL Fire about the dangers and safety involving hash oil and possible regulations if there are any on this substance. His story airs Thursday on KESQ News Channel 3 at 6 p.m.
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