What is a Dabs Drug? Dangers of Dabbing & Marijuana Risks

What are Dabs Drugs?

Dabbing drugs, such as the popular Cannabis dabbing, refers to the use of concentrated marijuana, a practice that has significant health risks. According to the CDC, cannabis dabbing is increasingly popular among young adults in the US. Legalizing recreational and medical cannabis in many states has corresponded with a flourishing cannabis merchandise industry and a rise in new types of cannabis use, including dab drugs.

What is the drug dab? Dabs are typically created from cannabis plant stems, residual shakes, and other byproducts. The marijuana dry herb is processed into a concentrate. Butane hash oil (BHO) is the most common extract found in dab cannabis. Butane, a highly flammable chemical, produces this concentrated version of marijuana. If you’re wondering if this is the same gas found in butane gas cylinders commonly used on camping excursions, you’re correct. This procedure can result in explosions and is hence hazardous.

Butane is utilized in the extraction process to extract terpenes, cannabinoids, and other important components. The butane evaporates away, producing a resinous, sticky, generally amber colored oil. Yet, distinct extracts result from different extraction methods and processes.

Types of Dabs Drugs

What is Dab drug? The most common dabs drugs varieties are the following:

• Honey Oil – This has a thick liquid consistency with a dark golden or amber color. It is also known as honeycomb, oil, and 710.
• Shatter – This dab drug variety comes as a semi-transparent thin sheet of concentrate, almost resembling an amber glass. This type of dab drug can easily break below room temperature.
• Butter – This type of dab drug has a doughy consistency. It is malleable and resembles peanut butter.
• Wax – This type of dabs drugs often look like brown sugar as it is rough and crumbly. It can sometimes resemble earwax in terms of texture and color.
• Live Resin – Unlike other dabs drugs varieties extracted from dry herbs, this dab drug variety is not made from dry herbs. Instead, it is made from fresh plants that did not undergo the normal drying process. It is one of the hard-to-find dabs drugs.

How Dabbing Drugs Works?

Although marijuana is generally ingested by smoking joints and occasionally using vape pens, dabs drugs are heated to extremely high temperatures and inhaled. A specially built glass bong, sometimes called an “oil rig,” is used. [1]

The dab drug is put on a connected “nail,” and the wax is heated using a blow torch, producing a vapor that may be inhaled. Because of this intake method, the effects of dabbing are felt quickly.

Individuals may also dab by putting hash oil in vape devices. This practice is extremely popular among the young population since it allows them to consume hash oil without fear of getting detected. After all, there isn’t any smoke or odor. As a result, they may dab in public, including at school.

How Long Do Dabs Stay in Your System?

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol is the most active compound in dabs drugs. This compound is a fat-soluble molecule. When inhaled, it is retained in your organs’ fat tissues, such as the heart, brain, liver, and lungs.

How long do dab pens stay in your system? Researchers reported that dabs remain in your system for approximately four weeks. Like smoking marijuana, the duration it will stay in your system will depend on the levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC. Furthermore, the frequency you use dabs will affect their duration in your system. The volume you inhale and the method of consumption will profoundly affect the duration in which dabs will stay in your system.

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Cannabis Dabs Drug Facts

What Does Dab Mean in Drugs?

What is a dab in drug slang? The term dabbing itself is jargon that refers to inhaling vapors derived from marijuana-based oils, concentrates, and extracts.

Historically, marijuana has been consumed by smoking (joints, blunts, pipes), inhalation through a bong device, and oral consumption (edibles). Cannabis dabbing involves inhaling waxy cannabis preparations consisting of extremely concentrated tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychotropic cannabinoid derived from the marijuana plant, through a vaporizer or similar device. THC is the ingredient responsible for the “high” associated with marijuana use—feelings of euphoria, increased insightfulness, heightened sociability, sexual pleasure, and relaxation that many users say that they experience and enjoy.

Dangers of Cannabis Dabs

Traditional Cannabis techniques (joints, bongs, edibles, or sublingual approaches) all have some impact delay or buildup. Whats dabs drugs? Dabbing produces immediate and long-term psychotropic effects and unwanted physiological and psychological consequences.

Hospitalizations associated with dabbing drugs have been documented with patients with seizure-like behavior, increased heart rates and blood pressure, and paranoia.

Other long-term dangers of dabbing drugs include the following:

• Cognitive dysfunction.
• Pneumonia and acute hypoxemic respiratory failure from dabs drug can be extremely dangerous. (not having enough oxygen in your blood).
• Structural brain change and damage.

Marijuana Use Disorder

Cannabis use disorder is the incapability to quit consuming Cannabis (marijuana) even when it is causing physical or psychological harm.

The optimal treatments for most substance use disorders (SUDs), including marijuana addiction, combine psychosocial and pharmacological interventions.

No effective pharmacological approaches for marijuana abuse are available. Psychosocial-based interventions, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational enhancement therapy (MET), and abstinence-based contingency management combined with CBT and MET, are the first-line treatment for the young population and adults.

Will a dab pen show up in a drug test? Yes. Marijuana always does. There is diverse support for prevention approaches such as media campaigns and school-based, family-based, and community-based programs.

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Dabs Drug & Marijuana Use Disorder Statistics

Butane oil as a solvent for extracting THC from dry marijuana is a common noncommercial approach for creating cannabis concentrates or dab drugs. Butane hash oil (BHO), the resulting product, is more potent than traditional flower cannabis.

Because of the high THC content in BHO dabs drugs, the health concerns of smoking BHO are far greater than those of consuming marijuana in typical methods. Moreover, users are exposed to extremely high concentrations simultaneously in a single breath, raising the danger of physical dependency and addiction.

In addition to being hazardous, the production of BHO violates US federal law, Title 21, US Code, Section 841. This is a significant factor for people who make BHO for personal or commercial usage. After drug lab explosions, BHO makers have received prison terms. [2]

Can You Overdose on Dabs?

With dabbing drugs, the possibility exists involving overdosing. Because this form of marijuana is extremely potent, the consumer may have too much when dabbing. Symptoms of an overdose include paranoia, panic attack, vomiting, passing out, heart rate acceleration, or confusion. You could risk accidental injury if an overdose occurs during dabbing drugs.

The process of dabbing has been found to lead to psychosis. A case study found two people consumed dabs and were subject to marijuana-induced psychosis. Both the users had to spend time in the hospital, and psychiatric medication was used to wean the body back to normal.

Dabbing Drugs Is Not The Same As Smoking

The primary distinction between dabbing and smoking marijuana is the strength and commencement of effects. While smoking marijuana has a rapid impact, the effects of wax and shatter are felt almost instantly. Dabbing drugs, such as Cannabis, produce a significantly stronger high, including up to 90% Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is the primary psychoactive marijuana component and 1 of at least 113 cannabinoids in the plant. [3]

The disadvantage of this potent, THC-laden substance’s quick delivery is an overpowering paranoia sensation that even frequent users experience. Dabbing drugs also need more sophisticated gear than consuming marijuana. The pricing is the final key distinction between marijuana and shatter. Concentrates are significantly more costly. In the illegal market, prices are still higher.

Harmful Side Effects of Dabbing Drugs

Dabbing drugs have been associated with various hazardous side effects, including fast heartbeat, blackouts, crawling sensations on the skin, loss of consciousness, and psychotic symptoms such as paranoia and hallucinations. Furthermore, researchers at Portland State University discovered that dabbing may expose users to high quantities of chemicals, including carcinogenic substances. The researchers discovered that the greater the temperature to which the chemical is subjected, the more carcinogens, toxins, and possible irritants are created.

The temperatures necessary for dabbing are more dangerous than other procedures. As a result, persons who dab are exposed to potentially hazardous compounds such as methacrolein and benzene. Similarly, another study discovered that more than 80% of marijuana extracts include hazardous solvents and pesticides. Does a dab pen show up on a drug test? Yes. Traditional marijuana use and marijuana concentrates will always appear on drug tests.

Effects of Dabs on The Brain

The increased high that users get from dabbing is the reason for health concerns on its own. The high can cause temporary psychosis, memory loss, increased heart rate, anxiety, and hallucinations. Although the high is the result of the same chemical in regular marijuana, many believe that the intense effects of dabbing put individuals at a greater risk for trying other substances that produce like effects.

Dabbing Psychosis 

Cannabis-induced psychosis may be related to both dose and potency of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and increasing reports of psychosis associated with cannabinoids containing greater THC are foreseen. Moreover, NCBI published reports of two cases of emergent psychosis after using a concentrated THC extract known as cannabis “wax,” “oil,” or Hdabs,” raising serious concerns about its psychotic liability.

Headache After Dabbing

Rebound headaches are more common in those who use cannabis to treat migraines. Cannabis can cause the mucous membranes to become drier and thicker.” “This, along with insufficient water consumption, frequently results in rebound headache after the cannabis wears off.”

Do Dab Pens Show Up On Drug Tests?

“Dab pens,” also known as “wax pens” or “wax vaporizers,” work by heating a cannabis concentrate to ‘vaporize’ it. A dab pen will appear in a drug test as it’s a marijuana concentrate. Marijuana is detectable in the blood for about 12–24 hours, with heavy/frequent use observable in blood tests for up to 7 days (depending on a person’s blood renewal system).

Dabbing may have more severe physical and psychological consequences since it includes consuming marijuana with a significantly greater THC content. Furthermore, the apparatus on which the dab is put is frequently heated to temperatures greater than 400 degrees Celsius to create the vapor to be smoked.

Apart from the obvious concerns of burns and starting a fire, this can result in the individual breathing benzene, rust, and off-gassing solder, all of which are linked to long-term health risks. Another research discovered that over 80% of the cannabis concentrates tested were tainted with pesticides and residual solvents.

As previously stated, producing BHO requires the combustible chemical butane, which can result in catastrophic explosions. Others argue that the risks of producing BHO are similar to those of producing methamphetamine. However, the possible dangers of dabbing are not completely recognized because of a lack of study. Dabbing drugs is seen to be more dangerous than regular marijuana usage in terms of falls, accidents, and loss of consciousness. Nonetheless, more research is required.

What is a Dabs Drug? Infographic

Although dabbing drugs is not new, it is gaining popularity in the United States. Researchers link this increase to the commercialization of medicinal marijuana and its legalization in several states. These considerations have increased online instructional videos and a stronger social media presence. As a result, it is becoming increasingly popular.

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Withdrawal Symptoms from Dabbing Drugs

People with existing mental health concerns, including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, can worsen these conditions when they smoke traditional marijuana. Wax makes the negative symptoms of these mental disorders worse, more frequent, and more disruptive.

One study found that individuals reported higher tolerance and withdrawal from dabbing, which indicates that dabbing may increase the likelihood of addiction or dependence. Marijuana withdrawal symptoms may include:

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Drugs like cannabis or marijuana can changealter the dopamine reward system, so being able to quit using dabs drugs if the habit is problematic is just one part of the long-term recovery process. You must also reprogram deeply entrenched thought patterns to form new positive behaviors.

Detox Treatment in New Jersey Rehab Center

Some challenges may arise when you attempt to break behaviors, including losing friends, needing to fill your time, and experiencing uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. Quiting marijuana use has also been known to cause withdrawal, making quitting physically and psychologically challenging.

The first step in treatment is detoxification. It will help you navigate the complicated withdrawal process but doesn’t address thought and behavior patterns contributing to drug abuse. Different top treatment approaches and settings can help provide the ongoing support required to maintain long-term sobriety after you finish detox level of care.

Cravings are very common during detox and can be challenging to overcome. This often leads to relapse. Constant medical care provided during inpatient treatment helps prevent relapse. Clinicians can offer the necessary medication and medical expertise to lessen cravings and the effects of withdrawals.

Psychotherapy

Several psychotherapy modalities have been used to treat drug addiction, including marijuana use disorder. The following are always the top options:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – Is an effective psychotherapy treatment that involves changing both the patterns of negative thoughts and the behavioral routines which are affecting the daily life of the depressed person for various forms of depression. 
•  Dialectical Behavioral Therapy – It is a comprehensive mental health and substance abuse treatment program whose ultimate goal is to aid patients in their efforts to build a life worth living. The main goal of DBT is to help a person develop what is referred to as a “clear mind.” 
•  Person-Centered Therapy – This strategy allows and encourages clients to understand and resolve their concerns in a safe, supportive environment.

Dual Diagnosis Treatment Centers New Jersey

Substance abuse and mental health disorders often co-occur. Traumatic experiences can often result in mental health disorders and substance abuse. Dual diagnosis programs in New Jersey treat both of these issues together. The best approach for the treatment of dual diagnosis is an integrated system. This strategy treats both the substance abuse problem and the mental disorder simultaneously. Regardless of which diagnosis (mental health or substance abuse problem) came first, long-term recovery will depend largely on the treatment for both disorders done by the same team or provider.

Medication-Assisted Treatments

Medication-Assisted Treatments (MAT) for substance use and mental health disorders are commonly used in conjunction. This includes the use of medications and other medical procedures. During your rehab, the staff from your treatment facility will help you identify what caused your addiction and teach you skills that will help you change your behavior patterns and challenge the negative thoughts that led to your addiction. Sometimes, the pressures and problems in your life make you rely on substances to help you forget about them momentarily.

If you or someone you know dabs or is addicted to dabs drug, it is important to recognize the danger of use. From ingesting toxins to injury, dabbing can be extremely harmful. If you need help with a marijuana addiction, seek help from trained professionals. Contact one of our helpful treatment specialists today. We Level Up rehab center in New Jersey can provide information on dual diagnosis and detox programs that may fit your specific needs.

Top 5 What is Dabs Drug? FAQs

How Long Do Edibles Last? Learn the Side Effects of Weed, CBD Edibles Timeline & Half-Life Video

Unlike other marijuana THC dosing techniques like smoking or vaping, edibles have powerful, longer-lasting effects once consumed. It’s understandable why edibles have gained enormous popularity. Edibles offer a simple way to absorb cannabinoids and are smokeless.

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