Six likely cases of vaping lung illness linked to LEGAL Massachusetts dispensaries

Six likely cases of vaping lung illness linked to LEGAL Massachusetts dispensaries, officials report

  • All the products contained THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis
  • Details about which products were used or at which specific dispensaries they were purchased are unclear
  • It’s the first time Massachusetts has linked illnesses to vaping products bought at dispensaries as officials have largely looked at blood vaping products 
  • The CDC says 2,291 people have been sickened across the US from vaping-related lung illnesses and that 48 people have died

Six probable cases of vaping-related lung illness in Massachusetts have been linked to state-licensed marijuana dispensaries.

All of the products contained THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, the state’s Department of Public Health announced on Thursday.

No details were made public about what products were used or the specific dispensaries where they were purchased. 

Health officials have pointed the finger at black market vapes, suspecting that these are the main source of the mysterious lung illnesses affecting nearly 2,300 in every US state – but now there are fears that even legal dispensaries can’t be trusted. 

 Six probable vaping-related lung illness cases have been linked to state-licensed marijuana dispensaries, Massachusetts health officials said on Thursday (file image)

‘The agency continues to test samples from licensed Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers and Marijuana Establishments to understand whether legal products contain vitamin E acetate or other contaminants of concern while its quarantine on marijuana vaping products, except medical-use flower vaporizers, remains in place,’ said a state Department of Public Health spokesperson in a statement. 

‘Public health and safety remain paramount to the Commission.’ 

The news comes days before Governor Charlie Baker will lift a statewide ban on all vaping products – flavored or non-flavored – that was enacted in September.

However, after the administration is done drafting additional regulations, a permanent ban into effect starting June 1, 2020.  

The CDC states that 2,291 people have developed EVALI (e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung illness) in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

The agency decided to only include cases that resulted in a hospitalization and removed 175 non-hospitalization cases from its previous count.  

The vaping death toll has risen to 48 people across 25 states and Washington, DC, the CDC said on Thursday. 

Most of the victims are male and under the age of 35, with ages of those who died ranging from 17 to 75.

New figures from the CDC say  ‘Dank Vapes’ have been driving the epidemic.

Last month, officials announced a breakthrough when they found that a thick, gooey substance called vitamin E acetate in an sizable number of the samples of e-cigarettes used by sick people.

Experts say they now believe that a combination of the vitamin derivative and THC is a ‘strong culprit’, but they can’t rule out other chemicals.

The CDC has not changed its warning against using these vaping products and continues to urge Americans who don’t use e-cigarettes not to start.

Although the agency says that smokers who have switched to vaping should not return to using combustible cigarettes, the CDC also advises vaping products should ‘never be used by youths, young adults or women who are pregnant.’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk