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[dorian0]

Vaping deaths are trending in the news. Many pundits and officials are claiming these are the first vaping related deaths. Especially the mainstream media. But smoking contaminated THC oil is causing a health crisis in America. Not vaping an e-cig. Yet that has not stopped the freight train of accusations from media and special interest groups blaming e-cigs and the American vaping community.

Instead of opportunistically using the tragedy of an outbreak of lung illness to attack vaping, the public deserves to be warned about the real dangers of black market THC oil. Public health officials should be clear because people need to understand the crisis. The victims thus far have largely been young men with an average age of 19. These kids live at home. They should know what to look out for. American parents deserve to know what to look for. People deserve to know about the dangers of smoking illicit THC oil.

Can we please get the warning right?

CDC and Public Warnings About Vaping
The CDC and others have been warning the public about vaping. But they should be more specific. Blaming e-cigs creates a risk of convincing smokers that they might as well just keep smoking. It may also send vapers back to cigarettes. While the CDC clarifies later in the tweet thread that they are referring to black market products, it is not readily evident in their warnings. Vaping is blamed in the headline but you have to read 10 paragraphs in to find out that it is actually THC oil that is associated with almost all of the cases.


Dr. Robert R. Redfield
✔
@CDCDirector
· Aug 30, 2019
Replying to @CDCDirector
While some cases are similar and appear to be linked to #ecigarette product use, more information is needed to determine what is causing the respiratory illnesses. In many cases, patients have also acknowledged recent use of THC or CBD-containing e-cigarette products.


Dr. Robert R. Redfield
✔
@CDCDirector
#Ecigarette users: While this investigation is ongoing, consider refraining from using e-cigarette products including nicotine, THC, and CBD. Monitor for symptoms and promptly seek medical attention if you have concerns about your health.

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7:29 PM - Aug 30, 2019
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Officials, special interest groups, and the media are not telling the real story. They are conflating vaping an e-cigarette with smoking black market THC oil.

This is horribly irresponsible. Rather than providing the public with an appropriate public health warning, anti-vaping opportunists are brazenly exploiting THC oil deaths and branding them as vaping deaths. People are blaming e-cigs instead of being properly warned about black market THC oil. It is frankly shameful. There is no other word for it. Please, warn family, friends, and colleagues about the dangers of using black market THC oil.

How Is Black Market THC Oil Made?
Black market THC oil made on the streets is not made in a lab by professionals. That is for sure. Most dispensary THC oil is made professionally in a lab setting. Black market THC oil is made in unhygienic environments and is often full of contaminants. There are YouTube videos showing how to make homemade THC oil. Never try to make THC oil at home! It is not safe.

There are four basic steps to making black market THC oil. We are obviously not going to provide details of the process because no one should be making homemade THC oil. Ever. The first things street dealers do is heat the cannabis and grind it. Then it is put into a plastic PVC pipe and flushed with butane. The butane is then heated so the liquid evaporates. Finally, a thickening agent is used to thicken and “cut” the oil.

Notice that there is no filtration of the oil to take out the contaminants from the butane lighter fluid. And some will note that people have been using this extraction method for years without incident. That may be true, even though this is a filthy process something seems to have changed recently to cause the cases of lung illness. And so far the culprit appears to be Vitamin E acetate.

By the way, it is not just black market THC oil that you have to worry about. Similarly toxic processes are used to make homemade wax and shatter. Any cannabis product purchased off the streets or black market is a risk. Never buy, make, or sell black market cannabis oils or waxes.
Vitamin E Acetate
Vitamin E acetate is believed to be the main culprit making people sick. Inhaling the substance while smoking THC oil is dangerous. Do not make, use, or sell black market THC oil.

THC oil consumers consider thicker oil to be a better quality. For black market dealers, the goal is to make their oil look like it is decent quality. They do so by adding thickening agents or “cutting” the oil. The recent outbreak is believed to be tied to the use of a vitamin E oil used as a cutting agent. There are eight types of vitamin E including the synthetic versions. Not are suitable to be vaporized. The problem is that vitamin E and acidic acid can create vitamin e acetate in a solution with a pH level below 4.8.

Other THC Oil Contaminants
We don’t know what other THC oil contaminants that there could be. But there could be a lot more. You can see why blaming vaping deaths on e-cigs is so terribly wrong. And frankly reckless. The general public is not getting correct information.

Butane and solvents decomposes the PVC piping back marketers use to extract THC oil.
Other potential contaminants in THC oil can develop based on how or where the oil is stored. Remember, black market dealers are not operating in a lab with proper refrigerated storage. The THC oil you buy on the street may have been kept in the hot sunlight in a trash can.
Then, when filling a cartridge with THC oil, they may not even use gloves or clean the cartridges.
Black market dealers may use dirty syringes to fill cartridges.
The point is that without a lab setting operated by professionals, there is ample opportunity for all kinds of contamination. Again, you can see why it is so important to issue the proper public warnings. This information is what people need to know.

Oil Cartridges
Right now the e-cigarette industry is being damaged by Chinese companies dumping millions of cheap vapor products on the US market. As an example, the proposed ban on e-cig flavors is said to be in response to teen vaping rates. But the teens are not vaping devices from legitimate American e-cig companies like Mig Vapor. No, teens are buying cheap, disposable, high nicotine JUUL look-alike vape sticks from the corner store.

Just as the disposable high nicotine pods are being dumped on the US market, so too are cheap oil cartridges. The cartridges are being sold for 70 cents a piece to Americans who turn around and sell them in the US for a few bucks. Dirt cheap. The chrome plated carts are trash. They do not vaporize, they burn the oil. Users are smoking THC oil. Another reason why calling the tragedies “vaping deaths” is so misleading. There is no vapor from these black market cartridges.

Illicit THC Oil May Look Like A Professional Commercial Product
On September 11, 2019, a Wisconsin man was arrested for making and selling illicit THC oil. He was caught with $1.5 million in product, $60,000 in cash, and had 31,000 cartridges full of THC oil he was going to sell. Think about that. 31,000! And he is one of many. These guys watch videos on YouTube for how to make THC oil and they are off to the races. After they make it a few times they think they are experts. But this guy was 20 years old. He had no training in chemistry. He did not have a lab. People who used his THC cartridges were not “vaping”.

Black market THC oil dealers easily mimic commercial packaging.
Do not buy a THC oil product unless you absolutely know the source.
To be safe, consider using a dry herb vaporizer until the issue with THC oil is fully resolved.
Shrink wrap kits purchased for well under $100. Printing packaging that looks like it comes from a real company. Making commercial looking packaging is easy. And deceptive. Commercial packaging gives the impression of a professionally made, safe product. But black market THC oil can’t easily be distinguished from legitimate THC oil.

Do not buy THC oil unless the source is definitively known and trusted. Or, use a dry herb vaporizer instead of THC oil.

Does The Type Of Butane Used Make A Difference?
There are two types of butane. Iso butane and butane. They each have a different molecular structure. Both are used for THC extraction. Typically, the butane used for extraction is lighter fluid bought from a hardware store.

Look, it is probably the vitamin E acetate that is the culprit. We will know more as time goes on. But there are numerous problems with homemade THC oil. Will there be more vaping deaths? We pray not. But a lot can go wrong with THC oil made by amateurs without a proper lab. For instance, where and how oil is stored can potentially contaminate the oil. Filling oil into cheap, Chinese made oil cartridges can lead to contamination. By the way, some of those cheap Chinese oil cartridges being dumped on the US market have tested for lead. Black market THC oil is like buying any street d rug. It is dangerous.

Vaping Is Being Scapegoated
The New York Times has reported that 53 people with the lung illness claim that they never used THC oil. There may be reasons that people are reluctant to admit THC use. For context, consider that smokers in the United States have been using e-cigarettes for 13 years. And never before has there been any reports of an illness like this. It would be a monumental coincidence that the first ever cases of severe lung illness from vaping just happened to occur at the same moment of an outbreak of the exact same illness showing up in people who used a contaminated black market THC oil cartridge.

The fact of the matter is that vaping is being scapegoated. Opportunists are exploiting tragedy to demonize vaping and e-cigarettes. E-cigs are made for smokers. Not for THC oil. Much in the same way legitimate American e-cig companies like Mig Vapor and the vaping community is under threat of a ban of e-cig flavors. But we are not selling high nicotine vape sticks to kids. The FDA is not even enforcing the existing rules and allows Chinese companies to flood the market with cheap, high nicotine, disposable products. The American vaping community is being viciously railroaded.

Public Warnings Confusing
Of course no business wants to be blamed for the conduct of bad actors. That is blatantly unfair. But the larger point here is that the general public is being misled. Blaming vaping is part of a bigger issue of misleading the public at a time when lives are at stake. You can see all the warnings talking about e-cigs. American parents may be left looking for the wrong warning signs. If there is a recall of e coli contaminated lettuce, you don’t blame the spinach. The public deserves to be informed of the truth.

The reckless act of using tragedy to demonize e-cigs is that the public will be on alert for e-cig products, when they need to be concerned about illicit THC oil.
The American public deserves to be properly informed of the truth.
Vaping Deaths and Illness
As we have discussed, the media is claiming that these are the first deaths from vaping. But it is illicit THC oil that the public needs to be aware of. If you or a loved one has used a THC oil product and experiences any flu or cold like symptoms, get to a doctor immediately. Tell the doctor everything. And do not lie. Bring any THC or vapor products used with you to and give them to the medical professionals.

Symptoms typically within a week of using an illicit THC/vapor product
The illness is similar to lipoid pneumonia
Seek treatment as soon as possible. Do not hesitate.
Please, share this article on your social media. Please help us alert the American public regarding the dangers of black market THC oil. They deserve to know.

[DanielLee5]

Finally someone said that, I hope vaping will be justified as soon as possible. I always thought pure THC is harmful, it should be always taken with CBD which relieves it's stimulating effect. I tried vaping both THC and CBD, but always come back to medical marijuana and dry herb vaporizer Yocan Evolve D Plus .

[JimBruss]

You attribute too many benefits to this. Sometimes you don’t need to smoke to remove stress. Have you tried CBD medicines? It is derived from medical cannabis. There are many options for every taste - https://provacan.co.uk/cbd-in-nottingham/ I tried drinks with CBD and edible options. This is interesting)) But I can say for sure that it always works fine. If you need to calm yourself, then just take a little CBD oil.