If you’re vaping products containing THC, be advised that there’s no way of knowing what’s in them. John Meiman is Chief Medical Officer with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, which is advising people to stop vaping such products.
“Because it’s not a legal product, there’s no regulation that could . . . potentially control what can be in those products. We don’t know what chemicals could be in there, we don’t know if any of them could be causing illness, and because they’re unregulated there’s no way that we can ensure that there’s safety.
Investigation update: The majority of Wisconsin lung disease patients who reported vaping say they used THC products, however the investigation of the illnesses continues. Get the latest at https://t.co/oN9ry03vYS #vaping #Tobaccoischanging #DHSWI pic.twitter.com/s0W112Dq0w
— WIDeptHealthServices (@DHSWI) August 29, 2019
More than two dozen people in Wisconsin have been hospitalized with severe chemical pneumonia, or lung inflammation. The majority of those cases have been linked to vaping products containing THC. In addition to DHS, the City of Milwaukee Health Department also issued an alert, urging residents to stop vaping. The warnings follow the nation’s first reported death attributed to vaping, reported by public health officials in Illinois.
Earlier this week, legislators in Madison introduced a bill which would increase the age to purchase e-cigarettes and tobacco products in Wisconsin to 21.
“Eighty percent of our graduating seniors turn 18 in high school. And so it’s so easy for kids to get their hands on vaping products, because they know somebody in their school who’s 18,” state Senator Howard Marklein said. “The goal of this bill to reduce the access for kids to get their hands on tobacco and vaping products.”