What are dabs and cannabis concentrates?

What is a cannabis concentrate?

Cannabis flower is mostly plant material. The THC and the aroma compounds, called terpenes, sit in tiny resin glands on the surface. A concentrate is that resin collected and separated from the plant, which is why it can run 50 to 98% THC where flower runs about 12 to 30%, according to Montana's consumer guide. Producers get there three ways:

• Solvent extraction. Butane, propane, ethanol or CO2 dissolves the resin out, then the solvent is removed. Wax, shatter, badder, live resin and distillate come from here.
• Heat and pressure. Flower or hash is squeezed between hot plates and the oil runs out. That's rosin. No solvent.
• Ice water and sieves. Frozen plant material is washed and the glands are sifted out as hash. Pressed, it becomes hash rosin.

The live resin vs. live rosin page goes deeper on the two you'll see most on a menu.

What is a dab?

"Dab" means two things. The product: a small amount of concentrate, usually a dark gold to amber smear, sticky or glassy or crumbly depending on the type. And the act: "dabbing" is heating a surface, touching the concentrate to it, and inhaling the vapor. The names you'll see describe texture, not strength: shatter (glassy sheet), wax and budder or badder (soft, opaque), crumble (dry), sauce (runny with crystals), diamonds (crystals of THCA, the form THC takes before it's heated), live resin and live rosin (made from fresh-frozen plants), distillate (refined, nearly pure THC, mostly used in vape carts). The label, not the texture, tells you the THC.

How strong are dabs?

Very. NIDA, the US drug research agency, says dabbing "can rapidly deliver large amounts of THC to the body, which increases the risk of negative side effects." A dab is mostly THC, and you take it in one breath. Much of a joint's THC burns away or drifts off as side smoke. So one dab can deliver as much THC as a whole joint, or more.

Here's the twist. In a 2020 study published in JAMA Psychiatry, researchers in Colorado tested 121 regular users. Each used legal products they bought at a dispensary: flower at 16 or 24% THC, or concentrates at 70 or 90%. The concentrate group's blood THC peaked at more than twice the flower group's. Yet both groups reported similar highs and showed similar effects on balance and memory. The researchers were surprised that potency didn't track with how high people felt. The researchers think tolerance is part of the reason, since these were regular users. They warned that the result does not apply to inexperienced users, who should be extremely cautious with concentrates.

How do you smoke dabs?

Strictly you don't smoke them; you vaporize them. The usual setup is a dab rig: a small water pipe with a quartz, titanium or ceramic cup called a banger or nail where the bowl would be. The parts and the steps:

1. Heat the banger with a small torch, then let it cool before you dab. A surface that's too hot burns the concentrate, tastes harsh, and in one lab study made more irritants.
2. Pick up a tiny amount of concentrate on a metal or glass dab tool. Less is more: the smallest amount the tool will pick up.
3. Touch it to the banger while you inhale slowly. It vaporizes on contact.
4. Cover with a carb cap if you have one. It traps heat and controls airflow so the dab vaporizes evenly.
5. Breathe out and put the rig down. Wait. Effects start within seconds to minutes, and Health Canada says inhaled cannabis can take up to 30 minutes to reach full effect.

E-rigs heat the cup electrically to a set temperature with no torch, which removes the guesswork and the flame. Dab pens are small vaporizers with a chamber for concentrate; convenient, less control. Lower temperatures are gentler on the throat and keep more flavor; higher ones give a bigger hit and burn off terpenes. Don't improvise with hot knives or stove burners. The burn is not worth it.

Are dabs safer than smoking?

No, just different. A dab isn't combustion, so you skip the smoke from burning plant matter. But vapor from a hot banger isn't clean air. In one lab study, heating the terpenes found in cannabis at common dabbing temperatures produced an irritating chemical called methacrolein. At the hottest setting it also made benzene, which can cause cancer. At the lowest temperature tested, no methacrolein was found. Lower heat matters.

Two other risks are specific to concentrates. Solvent-made products can carry leftover butane if it wasn't fully removed. Licensed products are tested for leftover solvents. Unlicensed ones may not be. And making butane extracts at home is how people end up in burn units. One Colorado burn center treated 29 people burned while making butane hash oil between 2008 and 2014. Half of them had burns over 10% or more of the body. Never make it at home.

Do dabs build tolerance faster?

Nobody knows for sure yet. NIDA says higher THC strength has been linked to a greater chance of developing cannabis use disorder. That includes needing more to feel the same and feeling withdrawal when you stop. The Colorado researchers said their result raises questions about how fast the body builds tolerance, and that they don't yet know if concentrates make it harder to quit. If you notice you need more to feel the same, that's the signal.

Do dabs smell?

Less than smoke, and the smell clears faster, but yes. Terpenes are the smell of cannabis, concentrates are full of them, and heating them fills a room for a few minutes. A dab pen is the most discreet option; a torch rig is not.

Words you'll hear

• Rig, banger, nail, carb cap, dab tool (dabber): the pipe, the heated cup, its older name, the lid, the pick.
• Low-temp, cold start: dabbing at a lower temperature, or putting the dab in a cold banger and heating it until it vaporizes.
• Reclaim: the residue that collects in a rig. Some people re-dab it. Don't.
• BHO: butane hash oil, the family of solvent extracts.
• Moon rocks: flower coated in oil and kief, a concentrate in a bud's clothing. See moon rocks.
• Bubble hash: resin glands collected with ice water; the solventless cousin of these extracts. See bubble hash.
• Terps, terpy: terpenes; a flavorful dab.
• Gram: concentrates are sold by the gram or half gram, which is many dabs.

Common questions