"Bought illegal THC juices from the USA"
Sweden has its first cases of EVALI - lung damage coupled to cannabis, e-acetate and vejpning. There are two suspected cases.
"These are not ordinary e-cigarettes, but THC-containing liquids" says Erik Lindeman, doctor at the Poisons Information Center to The medical journal
Erik Lindeman emphasizes that it is not about regular e-cigarettes or e-juices bought in Sweden. The two people who fell ill are suspected of having bought their e-liquids online from the US. And it is e-juice laced with THC - the psychoactive substance in cannabis.
"We have indications that this way of abusing cannabis has become increasingly popular. And since customers are buying their products from the very epicenter of this epidemic in the United States, I judge that the risk is quite high that we will have more cases like this" says Erik Lindeman to Läkartidningen.
Causes respiratory problems
Erik Lindeman is now urging doctors to pay attention to the symptoms: abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, general malaise and increasing breathing difficulties.
"When the patient is a young person with respiratory problems, it is important to try to find out if they vejpar and then it is precisely THC-vejpning you should ask targeted questions about" says Erik Lindeman to Läkartidningen.
Not ordinary e-liquid
EVALI has in affected many young people in the US and is linked to legal e-juices containing THC (the psychoactive substance in Cannabis). The e-liquids in question have been diluted with the thickening agent e-acetate. When e-acetate is heated and inhaled, the cooling vapor can clog the lungs and cause severe pneumonia. More than 2,800 Americans have fallen ill with EVALI and some 60 have died.
However, E-acetate is used not in regular e-liquid, with or without nicotine. All ingredients in an e-juice should be water-soluble, mainly to reduce the risks of possible lung damage.
Wrong about nicotine and e-cigarettes
Niklas Linder, he President of the Electronic Cigarette Industry Association now hopes that the media and authorities will act responsibly and inform about lung damage.
"It is black market THC products that are responsible for this damage. Electronic cigarettes, on the other hand, have been singled out as the culprit. The consequences were that many vejpare went back to cigarettes for fear of getting sick. At the same time, THC users didn't care much, because they didn't associate themselves with vejpning. As a result, the number of people affected actually increased," says Niklas Linder to Vejpkollen.
