2019 brought an epidemic of vaping injuries and deaths from e-cigarettes and vaping marijuana hash oil that many health experts warned was just a matter of time. 2019 ended with President Trump signing a law to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to 21. This change was because of underage e-cigarette use or “vaping”. Also, the federal government will place further restrictions on flavored e-cigarette vape juice, so there's less appeal to young adults.
There were several reports from across the country of regular vape users in their teens and 20s, who should generally have very healthy lung tissue, but had lung tissues of people in their 70s and 80s. A news story published in USA Today during November 2019 reported a 16-year-old who had a double lung transplant because of the damage done from vaping.
The CDC and other groups have looked into potential causes of the current vaping crisis. In illicit marijuana hash oil vape cartridges, manufacturers have added Vitamin E as a cutting agent. While vaping Vitamin E isn't good for your health (read below), don't be surprised if these additional chemicals and additives also are mentioned in the future as dangerous vape by-products.
Vitamin E Acetate: this vitamin is excellent for moisturizing your skin, but not so great for inhaling into your lungs. The oily properties of Vitamin E wreak havoc on a person's lungs. It's believed manufacturers are adding Vitamin E as a thickening agent to illicit cannabis vapes to make their product appear consistent with legit products sold in legal cannabis dispensaries. This additive has received the press as the main culprit behind vaping injuries, but researchers are still trying to learn more.
Diacetyl Flavoring: diacetyl is a common additive in vapes for flavoring, and has a "buttery taste" to it. If you go to any gas station or vape shop, you will find a large variety of flavors, from "white grape" to "cotton candy," some of which contain diacetyl. Flavored products are a marketing ploy by vape companies to reel in youth to try their products. Diacetyl can cause severe damage to your lungs, and decades ago, companies that produced popcorn flavoring commonly used diacetyl in their manufacturing process and didn't offer their employees the proper PPE. This safety violation caused severe respiratory issues with workers in popcorn factories and created a condition called "popcorn lung."
Mold: in both the legal and illegal marijuana market, mold is the most significant contaminant. Growers are continually battling mold growth, and publications like High Times Magazine offer ongoing content on ways to eliminate mold in their products. California and Colorado dispensaries have strict regulations regarding mold and microbial contamination, but despite their best efforts mold remains a problem. During November 2019, Colorado issued recalls for marijuana products with mold contamination. In late 2019, Colorado officials conducted random yeast and mold testing at Denver dispensaries - 80% failed and had too much mold in their products.
Chemicals: the marijuana industry uses an array of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides – especially in the illicit market. Some legal marijuana states like California have a "seed to store" program that monitors chemical content in marijuana. Regulation helps drive up the price of legal marijuana (heavily taxed marijuana is the main reason for high prices), and users will seek out the black market for cheaper marijuana where illicit growers don't follow regulations. Legal marijuana states have issues with unlicensed dispensaries popping up and selling poor quality marijuana products to consumers. Media reports from western states have reported foreign drug cartels have set up marijuana grows anywhere from residential neighborhoods to national forests, and these cartels have used these chemicals to aid in the cultivation process. Not surprisingly, these chemicals find their way into the end-users' product. However, the legal marijuana industry has also had its share of chemical contaminants that ended up in marijuana sold to the public, read one example here.
Metal: the part of the vaping device that heats the vape juice or hash concentrate is called an atomizer, and over time the metal heating coils break down because of use. Vape users will know they need to change out their devices when they notice the taste change – this taste is due to the metal breaking down. How fast these metal parts break down depends on the amount of use and quality of the device – cheap devices break down quicker. The metal poisoning (the most common is nickel) causes headaches, nausea, and vertigo. As conditions worsen, expect chest pains, organ damage, and cancer. Read more from WebMD here.
The current vaping crisis is reminiscent of Big Tobacco's fall years ago. For years many smoked tobacco products with the perception of low to no consequences until the truth finally came out, and the dangers of smoking became well known. While for the general public, the current vaping crisis came as a shock and a newsworthy, for those of us who know drug abuse, this crisis came as no surprise. Many anti-smoking advocates, health professionals, and criminal justice workers saw the lack of long-term data on health effects, lack of regulation, and clever marketing as a pending disaster.
Big Marijuana and marijuana advocates have taken former Chicago mayor, Rahm Emmanuel's advice, "never let a crisis go to waste." They stated with marijuana legalization, marijuana hash oil vapes would be regulated with better oversight, and crises like this would never happen. However, the legal marijuana industry hardly has a solid safety record.
The bottom line, the only thing that should go into your lungs is air. Anything else is potentially hazardous to your health and may cause side effects, including death. There have not been enough studies on the long-term health consequences from vaping anything to show it benefits your health, and the early returns conclusively report negative health consequences. The human body can only tolerate so much abuse and exposure to harmful toxins before it breaks down. Hopefully, steps taken to curb underage tobacco and vaping use in 2019 will pay dividends in 2020 and beyond.