New vaping warning as illness cases soar
Health authorities are urging to people to “think twice before vaping” as US reports of illnesses relating to the practice soar — but others say the real issue is the use of black market THC.
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Australian health authorities are urging to people to “think twice before vaping” as US reports of serious lung illnesses relating to e-cigarettes soar past 1000.
The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) has confirmed a total of 1080 such cases, including 18 deaths.
The reports, which have spiked dramatically since they first emerged in March, have prompted major retailers Kroger and Walgreens to announce they will not restock current supplies of vaping equipment in their outlets.
Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy (along with his state and territory counterparts) issued a warning to vapers in mid-September, saying “There is growing evidence implicating e-cigarettes in a range of harms to individual and population health.”
A Department of Health spokesperson said that the government would maintain its “precautionary approach” to e-cigarettes despite reports from North America that suggest the bulk of the cases are linked to THC rather than tobacco vaping.
THC is the compound in marijuana that causes the high.
“The US CDC continues to investigate the emerging illness known as ‘vaping related disorder’ which is a severe lung injury which can result in death,” the Health Department spokesperson said.
“Whilst many of the cases in the US appear to be associated with THC use, the specific chemical exposure or exposures causing lung injury remains unknown at this time.
“That is why we stand by our precautionary approach and advise that people should think twice before vaping.”
But opponents warn such messaging is causing vapers to “turn back to cigarettes,” which they claim are more deadly than tobacco-based e-cigarettes.
The US cases can be traced back to the use of “a contaminated batch of illicit THC cartridges bought on the black market” rather than legal tobacco-based vaping products, Associate Professor Colin Mendelsohn from the Australian Tobacco Harm Reducation Association told News Corp.
“If you look at the epidemiology of this outbreak, it’s a very similar pattern to what you see with a bad batch of illicit drugs,”
“We’ve had over 10 years of nicotine vaping and we haven’t seen anything like this.”
Late last week, the CDC posted on its website that most of the 1080 confirmed cases involved vapers who “report a history of using THC-containing products”.
“The latest national and regional findings suggest products containing THC play a role in the outbreak,” the CDC stated.
On Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration specifically warned the public not to vape THC or purchase any vaping products off the street.
The Health Department stated it has not been informed of any reports of vaping-related lung disease in Australia.
Assoc Prof Mendelsohn said “alarmist messaging” from Australian health authorities had led to a sudden decline in sales of vaping products, and some of the country’s estimated 300,000 vapers were “turning back to cigarettes”.
“The messages are frightening people away from the safer alternative,” he said.
“Eight million people die from smoking every year in the world. We’ve had 15 years of experience with millions and millions of vapers, and there hasn’t been one death.”
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Similar comments came from researchers in the US, where sales of e-cigarette products have declined by 11 per cent since the first widescale reporting of the vaping-related illnesses.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 12 per cent of the population use tobacco on a daily basis (down from 24 per cent in 1991).
Only 1.2 per cent of people aged 14 or older report that they currently use e-cigarettes.
— Additional reporting by AP
Originally published as New vaping warning as illness cases soar