Updated August 12th, 2025

Most people are aware that the “dab” is a dance move. You know … the one where the dancer drops their head into the crook of one bent arm while the other arm is raised straight out in the opposite direction? Well, despite what you know about the dance move, you should also be aware of the marijuana trend known as “dabbing.”

Key Takeaway

• Potency & Health Risks – Dabs and other cannabis concentrates often contain extremely high THC levels (60–90%+), making them several times stronger than cannabis flower and increasing risks of tolerance, dependence, and more severe withdrawal.
• Contamination Concerns – Studies consistently find high contamination rates in illicit concentrates, with many containing pesticides, residual solvents, or other toxins that pose serious health threats, especially when inhaled.
• Shifting Use & Slang Awareness – Drug use methods, slang terms, and emoji codes evolve quickly—recognizing updated street names and visual references for substances like dabs, opioids, and stimulants is essential for detection, prevention, and education.

A few years ago, dabbing was the latest marijuana craze, and although it seems the fad has died down a bit, dabbing is still a common way to abuse marijuana. And a dangerous one.

What is Dabbing?

Dab is a type of marijuana concentrate and “dabbing” is the act of vaporizing it. Another name for dab is BHO which stands for butane hash oil.

These substances are concentrated oils from the marijuana plant that contain a very high amount of THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol). Generally, marijuana concentrates such as dab contain 40 to 80 percent THC, which is about four times more potent than the THC content in “high-quality” marijuana.

THC Potency Comparison (2025 Data)

• Cannabis Flower
  • Modern strains typically contain around 15–20% THC, with some high-potency cultivars reaching up to 35%.
• Concentrates (e.g., dabs, wax, shatter)
  • Concentrates generally range from 60–90% THC, in some cases exceeding 90%.
  • A recent study found average labeled THC for concentrates at 73%, with observed levels around 70.7%—substantially higher than flower averages of ~21% labeled and ~20.8% observed.
• Extreme Cases
  • Some samples tested by the DEA have shown nearly 99% THC, though these represent upper extremes.

The THC in marijuana is what makes users feel the pleasurable euphoria they’re after when abusing marijuana, so marijuana concentrates like dab are particularly enticing for marijuana users who are looking for a stronger high.

Dab looks a lot like butter or honey, so naturally, other slang terms include:

• Honey oil
• Budder
• Wax
• Ear wax
• Shadder
• Black glass
• Errl
• 710 (the word “oil” flipped upside down and backward)

General Slang for Dab & Cannabis Concentrates

• 710 – “OIL” upside down (popular code in cannabis culture)
• Errl – Play on the word “oil”
• Wax – Refers to sticky, wax-like concentrate texture
• Shatter – Glass-like brittle concentrate
• Budder – Creamy, butter-like texture
• Crumble – Dry, crumbly concentrate
• Honey Oil – Golden-colored cannabis oil
• Amber – Refers to concentrate’s translucent color
• Pull-and-Snap – Stretchy concentrate texture
• Rosin – Solventless concentrate made with heat and pressure

Culture & Coded References

• 710 Society – Slang for concentrate culture/community
• Oil Rig – The setup used for dabbing
• Hot Knife – Old-school method of inhaling concentrates
• Glob – A large dab portion
• Dab Hit – Taking a hit of a concentrate
• Torch – Butane torch used for heating the dab nail

Common Dab Emojis

• 🌿 Herb – General cannabis reference.
• 🍯 Honey Pot – For “honey oil” or golden concentrate.
• 🛢️ Oil Drum – Refers to cannabis oil or hash oil.
• 🔥 Fire – High potency (“fire” dab).
• 💨 Puff of Air – Smoke/vapor.
• 🔥💨 – Taking a dab hit.
• 🛠️ Hammer or 🔧 Wrench – For dab tools.
• 🔫 Water Gun – Sometimes used to represent a torch (though butane torch emoji isn’t standard).
• 🛢️🍯 – Hash oil / BHO reference.
• 🌈 Rainbow – Can refer to colorful “rosin” or terpene-rich concentrates.

710 Code Reference

• 710 (typed as numbers or 🔢 emojis) – “OIL” upside down, a popular dab culture code.
• 🔢7️⃣1️⃣0️⃣ – Used in posts to signal dab/concentrate content.

Combination Codes

• 🍯💨 – Honey oil dab hit.
• 🌿🛢️ – Cannabis oil.
• 🔥🍯💨 – “Fire” concentrate dab.
• 7️⃣1️⃣0️⃣🔥 – Dab culture reference with potency emphasis.

Certain equipment is required to use dab. Typically, people use a hand-held blowtorch and a pipe to smoke it. First, users heat the pipe with the blowtorch and set the wax inside. The wax then heats and bubbles, producing a smoke that users inhale through the top of the pipe. As this process is fairly complex for first-time users, dabbing is more likely to be done by experienced marijuana abusers who want a stronger high.

How Dabbing Started

According to LiveScience, dabbing isn’t a new thing at all. It’s been around since the 1970s. Although only a small amount of drug users have historically done it, dabbing has recently become a bigger trend, particularly among teens and young adults. Some experts believe this trend is a result of the recent marijuana legalization in certain states, the commercial development of medical marijuana, and instructional videos and information being shared on social media and YouTube.

What Dabbing Does to Your Lungs

Many people claim that dabbing is less harmful and causes less damage to the lungs than smoking non-psychoactive drugs, but this has yet to be proven with research. Some people also claim that the preparation process eliminates harmful bacteria, mold, and fungi, but this has not been proven yet either.

Recent clinical evidence has linked dabbing directly to serious respiratory consequences. Case reports include a 66-year-old woman who developed hypersensitivity pneumonitis after her first experience with butane hash oil (BHO) dabs, which was successfully treated with steroids, as well as a separate case of acute respiratory failure requiring high-flow oxygen and ECMO support due to inhalation injury from dabbing. Literature reviews and additional case studies have documented both acute and chronic lung injuries from BHO use, including pneumonitis, pneumonia, and acute hypoxemic respiratory failure. A 2024 case further reinforced these concerns, reporting pneumonitis and lung injury that required intensive care. In addition to the physical damage caused by inhaling cannabis concentrates, the extreme heat involved in dabbing can create harmful by-products such as benzene, a known carcinogen; methacrolein, a potent respiratory irritant; residual solvents like butane; and degraded terpenes, all of which may contribute to lung tissue damage.

Other Side Effects of Dabbing

Unfortunately, researchers haven’t done very much research on the side effects of dabbing so the long-term physical effects are largely unknown. However, abusing the plant form of marijuana can result in side effects like:

• Poor judgment
• Poor coordination
• Anxiety
• Panic attacks
• Increased heart rate (elevated risk of heart attack)
• Lung damage
• Hallucinations
• Paranoia

Abusing synthetic marijuana comes with even more disturbing, harmful, and unpredictable side effects.

A 2015 study examining 57 cannabis concentrate samples—similar to those used for dabbing—found that over 80 percent were contaminated with residual solvents or pesticides, raising serious health concerns. This problem has persisted over the years, with a 2024 report confirming high contamination rates in cannabis concentrates sold in Canada. Broader testing has also revealed a significant disparity between regulated and illicit markets. In Canada, 92 percent of unregulated cannabis samples contained multiple pesticide residues, while only 6 percent of regulated products tested positive, and those typically contained only trace amounts of a few pesticides.

Marijuana users can create dab at home with a process called blasting, but it is also very dangerous and may result in fires, burns, or even explosions. However, in states where medical marijuana is legal, users may purchase butane hash oil extracts.

Additionally, a scientific study from 2014 found that people who abused dab reportedly built up a higher tolerance, which, in turn, produced stronger withdrawal symptoms.⁶

Marijuana Abuse: Dabbing, Smoking, and Edibles

Although marijuana is largely viewed as a less harmful drug than other illegal substances like meth, bath salts, or heroin, the abuse of marijuana in any form comes with dangerous risks and side effects. In any case, any form of long-term marijuana abuse may result in marijuana dependency.

Dabbing, smoking, and consuming edibles are all popular forms of marijuana abuse. Dabbing, or vaporizing the marijuana concentrates, is viewed as more of a marijuana trend, but smoking it or consuming it in edibles are other common ways people use dab.

• Marijuana concentrates in edibles: Dab, a marijuana concentrate, may also be used by adding it to edible food products like brownies or tea.
• Smoking marijuana concentrates: People may also smoke dab by using water or oil pipes or by heating it in a glass bong.

The Dangers of Trends Like Dabbing

Drug trends like dabbing don’t just carry immediate physical dangers, but they also encourage drug abusers to try new things that may lead to addiction and dependence, overdose, or even death.

For example, one recent drug trend called “wasping” involves users spraying their meth with bug spray or crystallizing the bug spray with heat before shooting it up via injection. Drug users in Ohio were doing this with the goal of achieving a stronger high, but it was having extremely dangerous and even deadly consequences.

Heating heroin and then inhaling it is another recent drug abuse trend known as “Chasing the Dragon.” This method of heroin abuse can cause irreversible brain damage and dementia, but according to Gizmodo, inhalation of heroin is increasing in the U.S., especially in cities and areas that are east of the Mississippi.

In America, a 2024 analysis of national substance use trends indicates that injection was the most common method of heroin administration in 2014, accounting for 69.9 percent of use. By 2021, however, that figure had dropped to 52.2 percent, marking a clear decline. Over the same period, snorting increased from 24.9 percent in 2014 to 36.4 percent in 2021, reflecting a steady rise in non-injection routes such as inhalation and insufflation.

Get Help for Marijuana Addiction Today

If you are dependent on or addicted to marijuana, getting professional help is the best way to address the physical dependence and the behavioral issues that caused it. Marijuana detox will clear your body of the drug and help you get sober in the most comfortable and safe way possible.

Marijuana withdrawal symptoms can be uncomfortable, but you don’t have to go through withdrawal alone. The experienced staff at Briarwood Detox Center are trained to recognize the signs of marijuana withdrawal and treat them effectively, to help you successfully get through withdrawal and move on to the next phase of your addiction treatment.

Call Briarwood Detox Center today to speak with an admissions specialist about our medical detox programs.