NEWS: Contaminated THC vapes cause >400 illnesses, 4 deaths

[t_wrex]

Didn't see a thread for this....

PSA: if you haven't heard, there have been over 400 lung illnesses and 4 deaths related to a batch of illicitly-produced THC vape cartridges.

Probe into vaping-linked illnesses turns up form of vitamin E from skin creams [Updated]

Experts suspect the vitamin could be harmful, but the FDA is not yet convinced.

arstechnica.com

From the CDC:

In a press briefing hosted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday, federal and state health officials reported that the count of severe lung disease linked to vaping is now up to 450 probable cases in 33 states and one jurisdiction. Four people have died from the condition, and another is being investigated. Officials have still not identified a cause of the illnesses and investigations are ongoing.

In particular, products labeled as "Dank Vapes" or "Chronic Carts" seem to be affected. It is believed that the problematic carts were not sold at licensed vendors, but rather by black market dealers replacing the contents of these carts. It has been suspected that the contaminant Vitamin E acetate is responsible for the illnesses, but this has not been confirmed.

Watch out folks! I think the general consensus is that if you can't buy carts from an official store, then making your own oil could be the safest thing to do.

This ordeal is of course a perfect example of why legalizing & regulating the industry is desperately needed throughout the country, with the same stringent controls applied everywhere. This is all the more important when it comes to carts, as it is quite difficult for the layperson to determine the contents of a cart, much more so than regular bud.

 

[DrumTripper]

^^ Very much This!
And I won’t use them since about a year ago.
I had switched to carts exclusively but began this crazy ramp up of tolerance and more-ish re-dosing.
It got outta hand to where a cart would last 2-3 days at best. Thus is when they were $60 CAN each.

Needless to say, that kicked my ass financially, but there was something else bothering me.
I was feeling serious withdrawl coming off carts, even with tons of flower back in my vape.
Like no sleep for a while, restless, etc. Kinda like coming down from meth (yes, had a crazy week back in ‘95 - never again).

So now I wonder what could be in these things, beside what we want/pay for. Like synth cannabinoids, other stuff?
I feel like maybe sending one of my last ones in for testing.
This shit is scary, let’s demand sone standards now. This wild-west era is ova!

 

[Phobos]

So what happened was that some people that were making those carts started to use an ingredient called "Honey Cut", that was coming from China, ingredients are unknown.
It allowed them to put less cannabis extract in the carts but still have a product that looked thick like it wasn't cut more than competition.
Normal cut is about 30%, using MCT coconut oil, and is needed to keep the extract liquid.
Fake carts with Honey Cut was up to 75% cut.
Using fake cartridges that would release heavy metals, the price of manufacturing one fake ass cart was about 3-4USD, and a legit one is like 14USD.
This started approximately in the last quarter 2018.

 

[t_wrex]

Disgusting....

Is there really evidence that heavy metals are showing up in these "Honey Cut" carts?

 

[t_wrex]

Some more info from this Leafly article: https://www.leafly.com/news/health/vape-pen-lung-disease-thc-oil-additive-investigation

As health officials investigate the source of the lung injuries, another possibility includes legal substances used incorrectly. Think of an extreme version of off-label use, where a physician prescribes a legal medication for a condition beyond the drug’s intended use.
That can put the legal makers of these products in a bind. For example, consider the case of True Terpenes, a leading manufacturer of terpenes and diluents based in Portland, OR. Their products are meant for specific purposes. But they have no control over the uses to which their customers put the products once they’re shipped.
Ben Disinger, the company’s marketing manager, told Leafly their leading diluent brand, Viscosity, is “recommend for use in winterized extracts.” (Winterizing means removing the extract’s fats and waxes.)
Disinger said that one recommended use of Viscosity is for diluting THC oil in cannabis balms and lotions meant to rub on the skin, not for ingestion or inhaling. Using such a diluent in vape pens, he said, is not an approved use. Burning or inhaling Viscosity might or might not be harmful, he said, but the company has no data either way.

Apparently Vitamin E acetate, which has been found in these nasty carts, is also often used in skin care products.... I wonder if these assholes are buying terpenes meant for cannabis skin balms, and re-using them in vapes?

 

[Phobos]

Good vendors use cannabis derived terpenes, bad vendors use synthesised terpenes.
Not sure about the evidence for the heavy metals but apparently it is the cart that's doing it.

 

[Egzoset]

Salutations,

...making your own oil could be the safest thing to do... ... ...a perfect example of why legalizing & regulating the industry is desperately needed...

...let’s demand sone standards now...

Legal or not these extreme cases certainly illustrate a genuine need to "Get Your Drugs Tested!" and it happens Dana Larsen didn't feel like waiting to promote his own solution, so why do governments still can't seem to be ready to offer similar services this many years after UN's 2014 FCTC/COP6?? M'well, unless the bigot prohibitionists required some emergency status to install 1st before they might eventually proceed with agendas of their own...

So, how much for "cutting edge equipment like a gas chromatograph with a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer" exactly?...

Good day, have fun!! ☮

 

[Thomas Davie]

Salutations,





Legal or not these extreme cases certainly illustrate a genuine need to "Get Your Drugs Tested!" and it happens Dana Larsen didn't feel like waiting to promote his own solution, so why do governments still can't seem to be ready to offer similar services this many years after UN's 2014 FCTC/COP6?? M'well, unless the bigot prohibitionists required some emergency status to install 1st before they might eventually proceed with agendas of their own...

So, how much for "cutting edge equipment like a gas chromatograph with a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer" exactly?...

Good day, have fun!! ☮

Last time I advised my boss on purchasing a new GC/MS it was around $35,000, installation extra and extra $ for something ither than a flame ionization detector (FID). That was 4 years ago when I was still working.

-the fact that legal Canadian weed is tested (maybe except for the Canntrust fiasco and Bonify?) and the strength listed on the package pleases me. The fact that it jacks the price up, criminalizes people who sell outside the legal framework and produces low quality product - disgusts me.

Election in Manitoba tomorrow. If the Liberals, Greens or NDP get in home cultivation will be made legal. Given the certainty of a Conservative re election tomorrow the best I can realistically hope for is a minority government (sigh) or to have the 0 plant limit ruled unconstitutional.

Tom

 

[Egzoset]

Salutations Thomas Davie,

Last time I advised my boss... ...4 years ago...

Okay, it's probably representing a prohibitive cost to expect such service for every single consumer, already knowing it would remain inaccessible to an essential category that should be most concerned anyway: e.g. the underage/minor persons 1st... According to Canada's National Cannabis Survey (published by StatCan) there were ~5.3 million individuals using cannabis earlier this year, hence that alone combined to financial aspects as you've just evoked above may suffice to explain why testing must be performed/provided by the LPs themselves, in situ. Assuming they're always honest & reliable!

...legal Canadian weed is tested...

Quite unfortunately those same LPs are simply trying to "pass" it, similar to cheaters attempting to deal with a piss test, apparently... In other words any treshold level still translates into institutionalized tolerance relative to potential chronic mass-poisoning while this should be absolutely banned or the deal is off (and the LP's license with it). After all "shit happens" and it sure did when "medical" complaints ended up being minimized if not rejected as "chemiophobia"!...

?

...jacks the price up, criminalizes people... ...produces low quality...

Strength reflecting THC % alone was only supporting old stigma perpetually vilifying plants and "stoner$"/"droÿé$", e.g. in absence of THC:CBD data plus equally insufficient focus on other pro-cannabic properties, all too often in order to avoid appearances of "banalization" in the public eye... End consumers need real/complete information, starting with the ratio and hints on the "entourage effect", etc. Personally i'd even want a microscope nearby the counter for visual trichome glands inspection, to make an authentic buyer decision that ain't no gambling lottery. In exchange for substancial rebates i suppose participants could contribute with indexed post-vaporization cotton samples, in order to refine an anonymous database built as a function of the products themselves (instead of us)... This would be precious feedback, inclusive of the "consumption method" which i believe to shape habit profiles in terms of Public Health - like monster toking in the e-Cig world causing recent mediatic tremours, for example. It's not as if microchips and/or magnetic strips are a novelty in days when readers are found on photocopiers in libraries, so why not a returnable container?? Which would also solve part of an ecologic puzzle in the process!

♻

...jacks the price up, criminalizes people... ...produces low quality...

Any dealer who would have treated me like this in the past understood he was most likely to never see me back again.

...the best I can realistically hope for is a minority government (sigh) or to have the 0 plant limit ruled unconstitutional.

Yes, otherwise i'm afraid our politic system actually promotes hypocritic display of unrealistic attitudes, trying to reach different conclusions than all previous failed attempts before, denying simple truths over generations, even against our country's initial constitution. It would be about time the rights of bigot anti-cannabic consumers be revised as well!

Good day, have fun!! ☮