PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Experts say users are putting it on cigarettes, eating it, and are even filling up their e-cigarettes with marijuana oils now.
The process to get those oils though is quite the operation.
"They can be found in residential neighborhoods," says Jim Hall, a drug abuse researcher and consultant. "They can be right next door to your own home, often in rented properties."
Hall has been tracking drug trends in South Florida with several agencies for 32 years now. He says oils or wax from marijuana plants are very potent and portable, but it can be dangerous to to pull, and each batch is different.
"What they are doing is taking residue material such as the leaves and stems of the plants and converting that with butane liquid solution, and as it evaporates it creates dangerous chemicals that are highly explosive."
Just this week in Boca Raton, a neighborhood was evacuated after windows and walls were blown wide open inside a home.
Sources tell Local 10 it appears the residents were extracting oil from marijuana plants and putting them in the refrigerator.
Palm Beach county deputies are still looking for the couple who lived in the home.
Several narcotics officers say the most dangerous thing about this operation is the use of butane. There are different kinds used for cooking or camping and you can buy it pretty much anywhere.
Miami-Dade undercover narcotics officers say the DEA is telling them about the trend and some are even taking classes to learn more about this issue.
Dozens of explosions, specifically in refrigerators, have been reported in states like Colorado, Washington and California.