Lab used to make marijuana ‘wax’ found amid large bust
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — As a cadre of narcotics officers raided the largest marijuana grow operation in Indiana history, they discovered roughly 500 marijuana plants, 50 pounds of marijuana, $40,000 cash and a THC extraction lab used to make “honey oil.”
It also known as wax, 710, marijuana oil or budder, according to the DEA.
While the bust certainly disrupted a large drug operation, it’s the latter of those discoveries that is concerning to DEA officials and local prosecutors in Indiana. Four unidentified people were taken into federal custody, according to Indiana State Police, who said the arrests involved people from both Indianapolis and the Batesville area.
“It’s in three separate rooms.They are making honey oil here, a large amount,” said Master Trooper Dan Madison with Indiana State Police.
According to a DEA source, the THC extraction labs can be highly volatile because they often require heat from a propane or butane torch to help extract the oil from marijuana. Through a process that combines marijuana, solvents and heat, users can create both marijuana oil or wax, which is said to be four to five times more potent than traditional marijuana, according to DEA resources.
It can also be dangerous – even deadly.
In April, 32-year old Brandon Abbott was sentenced to 70 years in prison for neglect of a dependent resulting in death after a fire at his Tippecanoe County home killed his three-year-old twin boys. Court records show the boys suffered burns and suffocated in the fire. While the cause of the fire was undetermined, authorities discovered a pill grinder, marijuana and an exploded propane container inside the home. Abbott denied that he smoked “wax” that night, but did admit to doing it earlier in the week and taking Ecstasy the day before he picked his kids up for his custodial visitation.
“The greater picture here is that individuals are using volatile substances to create a different form of marijuana and people are dying from it as a result of this,” Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington said during an April interview with our sister station, WLFI.
While there were no reported fires at Wednesday’s bust in Indianapolis, Master Trooper Madison said that the wax is popular in states like California and Colorado, where marijuana is either legal or largely decriminalized.
In Colorado, which fully legalized both recreational and medical marijuana in 2013, law enforcement data shows explosions have grown from two in 2009 to 32 in 2014.
“Unfortunately it takes terrible incidents to get folks attention,” according to David Powell with Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council. “You hate for people to die or get hurt before people start paying attention to this concern.”
Powell said he plans to again ask the Indiana legislature to support a bill that would enhance the penalties for those caught making “wax.”
He said a similar push last year died, but he was lobbying for it after a massive overall of Indiana’s criminal code reduced the penalties for drug-related crimes.