“Dabbing" -- it’s the latest trend in pot smoking, and you might never know if your kids are doing it.
The new, hip drug is a wax that can be smoked in an e-cigarette, and it has some scary side effects.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says the new drug is being marketed to kids, and it goes by many names.
“They call it dabs, they call it honey oil, and they make it at home," Judd said. "It’s very dangerous.”
Last week in Polk County, detectives arrested two men for selling the THC wax out of an e-cigarette store in the Eagle Ridge Mall.
“They're forcing the concentrate off the marijuana by blowing the butane through it, then catching it, and processing it from there,” said Judd.
The drug is a potent derivative of marijuana, users call it “blasting a dab.” They heat up a small amount of the wax with a butane torch, then inhale the smoke. Judd says just one gram makes about 20 “dabs.”
He says just one dab can cause you to become extremely intoxicated because it’s so potent and powerful.
Dr. Tamas Peredy with Poison Control in Tampa says the high potency of the THC wax causes similar symptoms to marijuana, but the effects are dangerously exaggerated.
“People can have scary visions and mental health problems, and on the body, it's a stimulant, so it effects your heart, it raises your blood pressure and heart rate, it raises stomach acid,” said Peredy.
Judd says parents should also be on the lookout for the items used to make dabs — things like cylinders, butane fuel cans, coffee filters, torches, even pressure cookers. He says given the drug can be made at home, or purchased for about $50 a gram.
Judd says if Amendment Two passes in November, making medical marijuana legal, then THC wax would also be legal.