FDA: Stop Using Vaping Products That Contain THC Now — An Urgent New Warning About Lung Disease

While vaping is still a relatively new phenomenon, and doctors are still working to pin-point exactly what about the products is causing lung problems, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified over 1000 cases of vaping-related lung diseases to date, which have led to 18 deaths. Twelve of those deaths, according to a CDC report, have been tied to vapes that include THC. Federal investigators say 78% of the cases of vaping-related illnesses are linked to THC vaping devices.

Despite the FDA warning and the reports from the CDC, vaping is not yet banned federally. However, many state governments have already taken steps to making vaping more difficult — and to reduce the number of underage people using these products. State measures taken so far include:

• New York, Michigan and Rhode Island have issued a ban on flavored nicotine vapes (flavored vapes like JUUL are especially popular among the underage crowd)
• Massachusetts has issued a four-month ban on all vaping products
• California health officials issued a statement urging people to stop vaping right away

However, the question of whether these new warnings will deter people (especially young people) from using vapes is unclear. A survey released last month found that more than 25% of all high schools students in the U.S. were either current vape users, or had used the products within the last 30 days. This is especially problematic because the federal age to buy these products is 18 — and many states have gone a step further, and raised the age to 21. This suggests that teens may be looking elsewhere to get the products — which the FDA strongly urged against in its latest warning.

RELATED: USERS SAY DANGERS OF VAPING ARE BEING OVER-STATED BY MEDIA

“Consumers who choose to use any vaping products should not modify or add any substances such as THC or other oils to products purchased in stores and should not purchase any vaping products, including those containing THC, off the street or from other illicit channels,” the FDA’s latest warning states.

How dangerous is vaping anyway?

Part of the problem with vaping is that because the science is still unclear, many people believe it’s not actually harmful. Because vaping is still new, researchers haven’t been able to conduct long-term studies on the physical damage these products can do.

In a previous interview with SurvivorNet, Weill-Cornell thoracic surgeon Dr. Brendon Stiles explained that the need to study these products and their dangers now is urgent — and users shouldn’t assume that products are a safer alternative to cigarettes (as they were marketed to be.

“The reason doctors can’t say with certainty that vaping is dangerous is that there simply hasn’t been enough time to study the long-term effects yet,” Dr. Stiles told SurvivorNet, adding that these unknowns make it dire that research on the dangers is started sooner rather than later. “It’s very pressing to start researching this now. If we wait 10 to 15 years until we see the clinical effects in all these kids who are taking up vaping, it’s going to be too late.”

In its latest warning, the FDA acknowledged that there is still much more research to do, but said that there are serious indicators implicating THC-containing vape products as a real danger to a person’s health.

“This is a complex, ongoing and evolving investigation,” the FDA said. “In addition to our own analyses, we are also diligently reviewing published literature of third-party analyses of samples and data, which are beneficial to our ongoing investigation. At this time, the FDA does not have enough data to identify the cause, or causes, of lung injuries in these cases. Additionally, while no one compound or ingredient has emerged as a singular culprit, we do know that THC is present in most of the samples being tested.”

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