"It's not about regular e-cigarettes"
Five people have died and hundreds have fallen ill after inhaling improperly manufactured, THC-containing, e-liquid in the United States. US authorities now advise e-cigarette users against vejpa e-juice containing cannabis.
At the same time, the authority is criticized for being unclear about the cause of the outbreak.
"This is not about regular e-cigs and we knew that from the start," says public health researcher Michael Siegel.
(NB: the final death toll was 60 people - see also article here!)
Over the summer, doctors in the United States began to notice that more young patients were seeking medical attention after experiencing breathing problems and chest pain. The symptoms appeared in several states and grew in number over a short period. Initially, dozens of patients, mostly adolescents, in Washington, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and elsewhere, fell ill with a "mysterious lung disease".
THC containing e-juice
The doctors in charge soon found that the common denominator was the recent use of vejpdon (e-cigarettes) containing THC/cannabis. In most cases, the patients themselves told us what they had inhaled. But finding the reasons could be quite complicated.
"An 18-year-old guy was close to dying from his lung injuries, and we simply couldn't find the cause," Dr. Melodi Pirzada, a pulmonologist at New York University Langone hospital, told the New York Post newspaper.
"The boy insisted that he had never used either e-cigarettes or drugs. Then his parents found a tank of THC-containing e-juice in his room and everything came to light" says Dr. Melodi Pirzada
Chemical pneumonia
During August and September, the number of cases of the serious lung disease increased dramatically and by mid-September the number had risen to over 200 and five deaths.
The CDC and the FDA are now investigating all cases to determine the causes of the outbreak. At the same time, it became clear that the mysterious lung condition was a so-called lipid "chemical" pneumonia caused by something the victims inhaled. The common denominator for the five deaths is the inhalation of some form of THC/cannabis.
Not regular THC juice
Cannabis and marijuana have been legal in some US states for some time, and alongside traditional use, vejpning has become a popular way to inhale the drug. Because e-juice with THC is so common and widespread, the FDA suspected early on that it is not 'regular' e-juice or even THC that is the culprit.
"There is a lot of evidence that these are non-traditional products" says FDA chief Ned Sharpless to Politico online magazine, but stresses that he does not want to pre-empt the investigations.
E-acetate in illegal e-liquid
Sources within the FDA tell Politico magazine that all cases so far have originated in some form of vitamin E. Vitamin E (also called e-acetate) is often used in the illegal production of THC juices. The substance replaces the traditional propylene glycol in the e-liquid. E-acetate is more viscous and has the ability to dissolve the oil-based cannibis extract in vegetable glycerin. E-acetate is a cheap way to quickly produce THC juice and therefore attracts many home blenders and black market operators.
The problem with vitamin E is that when it is heated, it turns into an oil-like substance that gets stuck in the lungs and clogs the pores - which can lead to a so-called lipid pneumonia.
Lipid pneumonia was also the cause of death in all five cases during the early outbreak. The substance is considered highly unsuitable for the production of THC juice, according to the major manufacturers. However, there is no legislation on the substance.
Warned about e-cigarettes - not illegal THC
The news of the five deaths and more than 200 cases of illness has spread worldwide, particularly via social media. At the same time, the CDC has been strongly criticized for its lack of clarity in responding to the outbreak.
Instead of warning the public about uncontrolled THC products, the CDC has chosen to warn about e-cigarettes in general.
"It's not just wrong, it's downright dangerous," writes American public health researcher Professor Michael Siegel in his blog Tobacco analysis.
Michael Siegel believes that the CDC is acting on its own agenda where vejpning and e-cigarettes are not high on the agenda. And according to Michael Siegel, e-cigarettes have been wrongly singled out as the culprit. When in reality they are very dangerous products that the population should refrain from.
"The CDC should be warning people not to vejpa marijuana, especially in e-juice bought on the black market. Instead, they warn people not to use e-cigarettes at all" writes Michael Siegel. "It is highly irresponsible and misleading"
Reporting in Sweden
Even in Sweden, the reporting of deaths and outbreaks has focused on e-cigarettes and not the main cause of the disease.
Vejpkollen has reviewed three major articles on the subject (in The Express, Aftonbladet and SVT).
- Expressen does not mention THC, but refers to the WHO, which believes that e-cigarettes are harmful.
- Aftonbladet mentions THC in the last sentence of its article, but mainly focuses on the fact that e-cigarettes are considered harmful according to some public health debaters.
- SVT has written two articles about the events, but only one of the articles links the outbreak to THC products, but only after the introduction, where e-cigarettes are said to be the cause.
The headlines of all articles refer to e-cigarettes and not to THC or cannabis
Sources:
