Oregon Honeyoil lab owner to pay millions

The East Evans fire in southern Oregon last August (2019) burned a total of 155 acres in Jackson county.

According to officials, the fire was started by an explosion of an illegal marijuana butane honey oil extraction laboratory. 24-year-old Michael Cashmareck from Pennsylvania was the maker of the oil.

Cashmareck plead guilty to arson and assault charges and was sentenced in Jackson County Oregon's Circuit Court this week to nearly three years in prison. Additionally he was ordered to pay nearly $4 million in restitution for the wildfire the explosion caused.

Butane hash oil (BHO) is a potent cannabis extraction and concentrated version of hash oil. The highly volatile solvent butane is used to extract THC (tetrahydrocannabinol)—the primary psychoactive component of the cannabis plant—from either marijuana or hash to produce BHO, a substance with as much as 90% THC.

Butane is a highly volatile, flammable substance. Historically, unsophisticated production techniques have been associated with explosions, structural fires, and burn injuries.

Butane Hash Oil extraction can render badder, crumble, sauce, or shatter, depending on starting material, apparatus used, and techniques applied.

Smoking or vaping are among the most common methods of ingesting extractions like BHO. When it comes to vaping or “dabbing,” individuals will take a small amount of the substance and either put it into an e-cigarette, vaporizer (“vape”) pen, or a specialized bong or water pipe (sometimes called an oil rig), which utilizes a blowtorch-heated nail to vaporize the hash oil. Smoking BHO in this way is commonly referred to as dabbing.