Dabbing for beginners: gear, steps and California rules

01

Dabbing for beginners: the gear, one piece at a time

A basic setup has five parts. The rig is the glass piece you inhale through. NIDA describes solid concentrates being placed on a heated platform, usually titanium, quartz or ceramic, where high heat vaporizes them for inhaling through a rig. Shops often call that platform a nail or a banger. You heat it with a torch or an electric heater, cover it with a carb cap to hold the vapor in, and place the concentrate with a dab tool.

Choose gear sold for concentrates and follow the maker’s instructions for your own rig, surface and heat source. Names change from shop to shop, so read the package or ask a budtender to confirm what you are buying. Glass cracks, so set the rig on a stable, heat-safe surface.

02

How to take a dab hit, step by step

Set up before you heat anything. Work in a ventilated room at a table you can leave clear, away from paper, fabric and anything else that burns. Put the concentrate on the dab tool first, so you are not deciding anything while the surface is hot.

Then follow the order in the steps below: heat the surface using your gear’s instructions, place the concentrate, cover it, and set everything down. Never leave a heated surface or a lit torch unattended, and wait until the surface has cooled before you touch or store anything.

03

Choose a concentrate and read its strength

NIDA describes the finished products as a gooey liquid, a soft solid with a texture like lip balm, and a hard amber solid called shatter. Our guide to types of concentrates compares textures, and what are dabs explains how they are made. The live resin posts cover live resin, rosin and distillate, whether live resin is solvent-free, how its strength compares with flower and decarboxylation.

Strength is the biggest difference from flower. In studies NIDA cites, solvent-based concentrates averaged about 54% to 69% THC and some exceeded 80%, solvent-free methods averaged 39% to 60%, and seized plant material averaged just over 15%. Those are national figures from 2020, not a California average. Read the percentage and the net weight on your own label.

04

Dabbing safety: heat, ventilation and licensed products

The hot surface is the main hazard, so treat it like any other open heat. Keep long hair and loose sleeves back, keep children and pets out of the room, and let everything cool before you pack it away. An electric heater still gets hot, so the same rules apply.

Buy concentrates from a licensed California retailer. The DCC says licensed stores have to sell tested products with accurate THC and CBD labels, and that untested products can carry mold, pesticides and other contaminants. NIDA cites one study in which 80% of tested concentrate samples were contaminated in some form, including residual solvents.

Do not make concentrates at home. NIDA reports that people using butane to make extracts have caused fires and explosions, and that a Colorado burn center saw a substantial increase in flash burns from amateur extraction. The DCC also says home growers cannot use volatile solvents like butane or propane to turn their plants into a product.

05

California rules for dabbing

Adults 21 and over can buy adult-use cannabis in California, and adults 18 and over can buy medicinal cannabis with a physician’s recommendation. Under Health and Safety Code section 11362.1, adults 21 and over may possess up to 8 grams of concentrated cannabis, including the concentrate inside marijuana products, as the Judicial Council’s Proposition 64 guide summarizes it. A licensed store may not sell an adult-use customer more than 8 grams of concentrate in a day under DCC regulation 15409.

You can use cannabis on private property, but not in public places like restaurants and bars, and not anywhere smoking tobacco is illegal. Property owners can ban cannabis on their land, so renters should check their lease. Most hotels do not allow it in rooms. Using or carrying cannabis on federal land, or across state lines, is illegal.

Driving under the influence of cannabis is illegal with the same potential penalties as alcohol, and cannabis in a vehicle has to be in a sealed package or the trunk. This is general information, not legal advice. Cities and counties can set stricter rules, so check yours.

06

Buying and storing concentrates

Look for the state license in the retailer’s window and scan its QR code, or use the DCC license search. At home, keep concentrates in a sealed child-resistant package, out of sight and out of reach of children and pets. If you think a child has consumed cannabis, call California Poison Control at (800) 222-1222. For a pet, call your veterinarian or the Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.