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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Man Blames Shell|for Hash Oil Explosion

PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) - A medical marijuana patient sued Shell Oil, claiming it sold him butane that exploded, burning him and killing a friend as they tried to make hash oil.

Kevin Tveisme, who has a medical marijuana card, sued PacWest Energy, Shell Oil, Hai's Shell Station and 10 others on Wednesday in Multnomah County Court, blaming them for the explosion of the odorless butane.

Tveisme says he bought four packages of Power 5X butane at the Shell gas station on SE 121st and Foster Road in Portland on May 27, 2013.

He claims defendants marketed the butane as "an acceptable 'solvent' for the residential preparation of butane hash oil."

However, "Unbeknownst to plaintiff, during the extraction process, butane can fill the vapor space, and can quickly fill and enclosed area," Tveisme says.

He blames the defendants for failing to odorize their butane, or warn him about it.

They day they bought the butane, Tveisme says, he and his friend Joseph Westom used it to make hash oil in his garage with an extraction tube. Such tubes are "generally 2 feet long and 1.5 inches in circumference."

Unfortunately, theirs exploded, giving Tveisme third-degree burns over half his body and burning Westom so severely he died, according to the complaint.

Tveisme claims defendants' butane has caused multiple deaths and injuries, but they refuse to add a scent or a warning label.

He demands $11 million for product liability, failure to warn, breach of implied warranty and negligence.

He is represented by Scott Kocher with the Forum Law Group.

Here are the defendants: Pacwest Energy LLC, Jackson's Food Stores Inc., Equilon Enterprises LLC dba Shell Oil Products US, Hai Chheng Gov, Hai's Shell Station, Hai's Shell #2, Vision International Petroleum LLC, LPC Petroleum LLC, Kimhong Leang LLC, Global Lion Inc., BK Power Imports Inc. and Bosco Kwon.

Medical marijuana has been legal in Oregon since 1998. Voters legalized recreational marijuana in November 2014. That law will take effect July 1.

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