Those of us wanting to quit smoking and using e-cigarettes to achieve this, or anyone vaping cannabinoids including THC (the psychoactive cannabinoid) need to be aware of recent concerns regarding their safety.
Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working tirelessly to investigate the distressing incidents of severe respiratory illness associated with use of vaping products. The FDA and CDC are working closely with state and local health officials to investigate these incidents as quickly as possible, and we are committed to taking appropriate actions as a clearer picture of the facts emerges.
In its continued efforts to protect the public, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is strengthening its warning to consumers to stop using vaping products containing THC amid more than 1,000 reports of lung injuries—including some resulting in deaths—following the use of vaping products.
As of October 22, 2019, 1,604* cases of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury (EVALI) have been reported to CDC from 49 states (all except Alaska), the District of Columbia, and 1 U.S. territory.
- Thirty-four deaths have been confirmed in 24 states
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Among 867 patients with information on substances used in e-cigarette, or vaping, products in the 3 months prior to symptom onset** (as of October 15, 2019):
- About 86% reported using THC-containing products; 34% reported exclusive use of THC-containing products.
- About 64% reported using nicotine-containing products; 11% reported exclusive use of nicotine-containing products.
In related news, in a small experimental study at the University of Birmingham, "Researchers found e-cigarette vapour disabled important immune cells in the lung and boosted inflammation. They found vapour caused inflammation and impaired the activity of alveolar macrophages, cells that remove potentially damaging dust particles, bacteria and allergens.
The researchers "caution against the widely held opinion that e-cigarettes are safe".
However, Public Health England advises they are much less harmful than smoking and people should not hesitate to use them as an aid to giving up cigarettes."
Until the investigation is complete, the CDC suggests people refrain from using all vaping products with THC, no matter where people buy them. The investigation has found that many of these products patients used were bought online or received through friends or family, rather than through vaping shops or at licensed THC dispensaries.
Vitamin E is used in several products, such as lotions and in supplements, but the CDC said there is a "big difference" in putting vitamin E on the skin or swallowing it in pill and in inhaling the oily vitamin.
The University of Queensland's Coral Gartner, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Wayne Hall, Professor and Director, Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research cover this in more detail here: theconversation.com/vaping-...
A Chicago teenager survived a double lung transplant to replace his vaping damaged lungs; mdedge.com/pediatrics/artic...
Vaping Worse for Heart Than Cigarettes?
It's not just lung injury e-cigarette users should worry about, study says:
Addiction specialists: Cannabis policies should go up in smoke
Addiction specialists have a message for American policymakers who are rushing to create laws to allow the use of medical and recreational marijuana: You’re doing it wrong, but we know how you can do it right.
The problem, Dr. Hill said, is that there’s “a big gap between what the science says and what the laws are saying, unfortunately. So we’re in this precarious spot.”
He pointed to his own 2015 review of cannabinoid studies that found high-quality evidence for an effect for just three conditions – chronic pain, neuropathic pain, and spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis. The study notes that Food and Drug Administration–approved cannabinoids are also available to treat nausea and vomiting linked to chemotherapy and to boost appetite in patients with wasting disease. (JAMA. 2015 Jun 23-30;313(24):2474-83).
However, states have listed dozens of conditions – 53 overall – as qualifying conditions for the use of medical marijuana, Dr. Hill said. And, he said, “the reality is that a lot of people who are using medical cannabis don’t have any of these conditions,” he said.
Outcome shows the dangers of buying unregulated "health" products.
As of late December the CDC confirmed 2,506 EVALI cases, spanning almost every state and territory in the US. Fifty-four deaths have been recorded as linked to the illness.
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Several illicit THC vaping liquid brands have been reported by EVALI patients (e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury), indicating the addition of vitamin E acetate as a way to mix THC into an e-cigarette liquid is a technique shared by several illicit product producers.
Lab tests have shown THC vape liquid samples from 2018 did not contain vitamin E acetate, implying the trend to include this particular additive was relatively recent. It is still a mystery exactly how this idea to add vitamin E acetate to THC vaping liquid spread amongst several producers but the CDC suggests social media may have played a role.
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