Once considered waste up until recently, the leftover remnants of marijuana leaves not identified as flower, were discarded by growers who simply had no demand for them. Today, that same waste, can be priced as high as $400 a pound in an industry expected to be valued at $10 billion dollars by 2018.
“The future of the extract market is the future of this industry,” -Brandon Krenzler
(Sirius Extracts)
Earlier this year, Krenzler, marketing director for a cannabis extraction company based in Portland, Ore., revealed spot on predictions to SF Gate, that any successful marijuana business in Colorado, was already well aware of.
“People are stepping away from flower [marijuana buds] and getting more into the purified concentrates. There is room for an immense amount of growth and that is what we are going to see from here on forward.”
In the wake of Oregon's legal marijuana market set to kick off October 21, Krenzler's foresight will be put to the test as Oregonians 21 and over will be able purchase marijuana and marijuana related products in the same manner as alcohol, without fear of legal repercussion.
Whether or not extraction companies such as Sirius Extracts will thrive in Oregon's currently unregulated concentrates market remains to be seen, given it's current status as only being made available to medical patients. This is expected to change very soon once the market is finally regulated under state oversight, and if extraction companies in Oregon are taking notes from
Colorado's hash oil market, they should start increasing supply of an ingredient they can't survive without;
high quality marijuana trim.
Price Fluctuations for Trim in Oregon
Far less valuable than marijuana flower, which can sell for about $1,400 to $3,000 a pound on Oregon's wholesale market, high quality trim has increased it's value exponentially over the years, due mainly to hash oil demand.
"Sourcing trim is really a full time job." -Beau Whitney
(Greenpoint Oregon)
A few years ago for instance, Cameron Yee, owner of Lunchbox Alchemy, an extraction company based in Bend, Oregon, paid roughly $50 for a pound of trim to make hash oil. In today's market however, that price would put growers out of business.
Currently, Lunchbox Alchemy goes through about 150 pounds of trim a week, and for the same quality of trim that Yee used to pay only $50 for a few years back, he now pays $250.
Extraction companies such as Yee's can only expect trim prices, as well as trim demand to continue along it's upward trending path as Oregon's newly established marijuana law takes effect, paving the way for dabbing enthusiasts.
Demand For Trim Mirrors Demand for Dabs
Due mainly to it's wide range of uses both for medical as well as recreation, the hash oil market has held top position, as an innovative force in the cannabis industry, with quality marijuana trim being it's top source for production.
Trim from marijuana strains known for their high THC content can produce concentrates 4-5 times stronger than your average flower, with THC potency levels ranging from 80 to 90%. Due to it's high THC content, concentrates have a much more potent "high".
Concentrates made from these types of high THC content strains produce hash oils known as waxes, budders, shatters or dabs that can sell between $25 and $50 at your average dispensary in Oregon, and have become commonplace in medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the country.
With it's increasing public perception as legitimate medicine, hash oil concentrates made from the trim of marijuana strains with high cannabidiol(CBD), and low tetrahydrocannabinol(THC) are also gaining notoriety. Once processed, trim from this type of cannabis can produce CBD oil, extracts, and other developing alternative medical solutions for conditions ranging from epilepsy to cancer, making it highly valued in the market.
Making Hash Oil from Trim: BHO Extraction Is Not the Only Way
Considered the most effective method for extracting cannabinoids, BHO extraction and similar hydrocarbon solvent extractions have been the primary research topics for recreational extractors wanting to make, and know how to make, hash oil concentrates, better known as dabs.
Despite safer methods of production that are readily being made available, such a water based or closed loop extraction, which is now required in Colorado and uses no solvent, or "open blasting", solvent extraction has been the most common, due to marijuana's hydrophobic properties, and solvent's ability to strip vital THC content from trim.
During solvent extraction, preferred solvent is used to separate fine hairs and THC crystals, known as trichomes from trim, and is then evaporated with high heat for further refinement. The most common solvent used in this type of extraction method is butane, used in the production of butane hash oil (BHO).
Butane hash oil offers users a faster and stronger intake of the active ingredient THC, and is oftentimes misunderstood as the "crack" of the marijuana industry, due to the extreme high that it give users.
This isn't the only way to dab.
Certain types of dispensary grade concentrates for instance, such as
bubble hash, solventless wax, ice wax, or rosin, don't use any chemicals or dangerous procedures in their production. Refined using a sieving system of water, ice, multiple filtering screens and high tech equipment, such as a closed loop extractor, water based extraction methods prove that concentrates can be enjoyed safely, without the risk of harmful chemical intake or exploding buildings.
How To Consume Hash Oil: Dab Rig or Vape Pen?
Given it's many consistencies such as wax, oil, budder, or shatter, concentrates are enjoyed using a vaporizing process which include devices such as a
wax vaporizer, dab rig, and dab torch.
The advantage of using wax vaporizers or wax vaporizer pens, which have become most popular in today's market, is their discreetness and ease of use even in public places, catering to a younger adult generation seeking instant gratification. Similar to an e- cigarette, vaporizers such as these operate by heating concentrates with titanium coils until forming a misty vapor that can be inhaled much easier than smoke.
Dab rigs, which are designed similar to water pipes with a more artistic appeal, are typically used at home in combination with a blowtorch, or dab torch, in order to heat concentrates.
Despite optimism from cannabis extraction businesses expecting huge returns from investments in Oregon's emerging hash oil market, only time will tell how successful these companies will be and how marijuana consumers will respond, in an industry still illegal on a federal level, managed under a system of high stakes, and high returns.
