Ask a Stoner: Is Dabbing So Many Terpenes Safe?

Westword

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Dear Stoner: Everyone loves terpenes, and I get it: Tasting like berries is cool. But are they necessarily safe to consume at such high levels?
Tepid

Dear Tepid: We’ve been consuming terpenes at high levels since long before weed became popular — pretty much since the dawn of humankind. Terpenes are in food, beer, coffee and just about any other plant or plant-made product. When you stop and smell the roses, you’re consuming terpenes. But if cannabis has taught us anything, it’s that consumption comes in many forms, and our bodies react in different ways to each of them.

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Jacqueline Collins

Ingesting and smelling terpenes is fine, and smoking them could be a big part of why certain strains have medical benefits and recreational effects. However, studies have found that the myrcene — pot’s most common terpene — in butane hash oil produced toxic carcinogens when dabbed at extreme heats. Still, it’s important to remember that this was a solvent-based extract dabbed at heats that made the nail red — neither of which were considered very safe to begin with. Take those dabs low, my friend, and the carcinogen conversion is much less likely.

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