Last year, Washington state passed legislation allowing adults over the age of 21 to hold up to an ounce of marijuana.

Earlier in May of this year, Colorado followed suit, legalizing recreational pot use.

Today, a public hearing on decriminalizing marijuana in Maine will be held by the Portland City Council.

As states slowly begin moving toward decriminalizing the greenery, the issue of hashish is called into question: where do concentrated oils fall on the path to legalization?

For Jim Andersen, owner of XTracted-a company that sells hash oil to medical marijuana dispensaries-it's important for legislators to figure out hash oil's legal status because where there's pot, concentrated oils will be found close by.

"Every major culture that has marijuana associated with it has hash associated with it as well," he told the Associated Press.

Drug experts are concerned with hash oil, in part due to its potency, but also because of its rapidly expanding popularity.

Currently, Washington's weed legislation lets those over 21 years old possess up to an ounce, 16 ounces of weed-saturated solid goods including edibles, or 72 ounces of infused liquids, like sweet, fizzy drinks, the AP reported.

But the law doesn't take up a stance on hash-oil, which has prompted debate on how to address concentrated marijuana sales.

Washington's Liquor Control Board is responsible for spearheading the new industry that revolves around legal marijuana. This month, they began drawing up the rules for hash oil, deeming it okay to be used in "marijuana-infused products" like olive oil or glycerin.

Hash oil typically runs about $40 to $60 a gram-this price, significantly higher than that of pot in plant form, reaps more tax revenue for the state. Under the drafted rules, people can purchase up to 16 ounces of hash oil in solid form. Marijuana-infused products will be okay to buy in quantities reaching 72 ounces.

"When we set the 72-ounce limit, we were thinking about marijuana juice or tea, not a high-potency extract like that," Alison Holcomb, Seattle lawyer, told AP.

In solid form, hash is a compressed concentration of cannabis resin with extra high levels of THC. Hash can be acquired by simply shaking resin off of a marijuana plant, then pressing it into bricks. It can also be extracted by using butane or carbon dioxide as a solvent that gives off oil containing more than 90 percent THC.

Hash oil can be ingested through medical droppers as a liquid, by vaporizing, or using a metal nail in a process known as "dabbing."

Andersen claimed that hash oils are popular because of the "clean" high they give. An instant, powerful high is felt almost immediately after smoking hash oil.

In Colorado, where weed was very recently legalized for recreational use, hash oil will be available for sale in marijuana dispensaries.

Meanwhile, Maine is working toward potential marijuana decriminalization as well-after a citizen-proposed ordinance allowing adults to hold up to 2.5 ounces of weed started circulating, the city council scheduled a public hearing that will either adopt the ordinance or send an alternative back to the voters, according to the Daily Chronic.