N
F
E
R
F E AT U R E S
H
US VAPING
Panic
BLACK MARKET
THC OILS BLAMED
FOR LUNG DAMAGE
CASES
But e-cigarettes are still being
vilified as more than 1,000 cases
are being investigated
Words: Gordon Stribling & Patrick Griffin
Vape panic in the USA has now reached epidemic
proportions.
The media, self-proclaimed anti-vape commentators
and various NGO’s are all shouting from the
rooftops about the dangers of vaping.
The message is loud and clear: “Stop vaping
unless you want to end up in hospital. Everyone
must stop vaping now.”
The problem is that this is such a hysterical over-
reaction which does nothing except promote
fear and confusion and which can only lead to
smokers thinking twice about quitting.
Over the past year we’ve heard countless stories
of supposed vape-related seizures and of evil vape
companies hooking kids with flavours. The panic
has even somehow eclipsed the opioid epidemic
in column inches, which is quite something
considering their relative proven death counts.
This latest chapter has been unfolding since
August and it is very worrying how it has taken
traction so quickly and how common sense
appears to have been completely thrown out of
the window.
On August 30, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) issued an alert warning the
public of an outbreak of ‘Severe Pulmonary Disease
Associated with Using E-Cigarette Products.’
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The CDC said that it was looking into 215 cases
of severe lung problems linked to the use of
e-cigarettes among youth and young adults. The
progressively worsening symptoms included
cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, diarrhoea
and vomiting, with many patients ending up in
hospital.
It is all very alarming, especially to the people who
ended up in hospital and their worried families who
were left wondering exactly what had happened.
By early October the number of cases had grown
to 1,080 with 18 confi rmed deaths.
Soon the public was being warned not to vape
and parents were being urged to stop adolescent
offspring from doing so.
Calling for this precautionary vape ban makes
as much sense as warning the travelling public
to avoid all air travel because a cruise ship has
capsized.
While the CDC and the media were quick to cry
vape, it soon became apparent that another
culprit was largely to blame – black market THC
products. THC is one of the compounds found in
cannabis that gets users high.
But the CDC alert and ensuing news stories sought
to lump all the cases together as ‘e-cigarette-
related’ rather than differentiating between
“These cases are
not being caused
by vaping products.
It is clear that
the majority of
observed cases are
associated with
the use of THC
oils obtained from
unlicensed sellers.”