Senate Bill 302 cracks down on people making honey butane oil

Grants Pass, Ore. — A big win for southern Oregon law enforcement. Police and firefighters have dealt with case after case of butane honey oil fires. Now, making the marijuana extract is officially illegal.

Senate Bill 302 went into effect April 21st, and removes provisions related to marijuana offenses from the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.

Here’s what that means: Before the law went into effect, it wasn’t illegal to extract butane honey oil from marijuana. That created problems for police, because there wasn’t much they could do to prevent the fires, extracting the oil can cause. The new bill, makes the process illegal – giving law enforcement some new leeway.

“It definitely gives us a tool to use. Processing this stuff in the way that people are doing it is extremely dangerous. It’s caused several fires here in Grants Pass and Josephine County,” said Lt. Dennis Ward, Grants Pass Department of Public Safety.

The house voted in April with 34 yes-votes and 21 no-votes. The law also makes possessing butane honey oil a crime, and any fires related to its manufacturing are now considered arsons.