Advertisement
Experts said the change, which mirrors data from other states where cannabis is sold legally, is almost certainly due to warnings from state and federal authorities that vaporizers are likely the cause of a mysterious outbreak of lung ailments that has killed seven people and sickened another 530 in 38 states. Health officials announced the first vaping-related death on Aug. 23. In Massachusetts, the Department of Public Health said Thursday it is investigating 45 suspected cases of vaping-related illnesses.
Horace Small, a marijuana consumer, community advocate, and member of the state’s Cannabis Advisory Board, said he quit vaping at the urging of friends and family members concerned about the news.
“I just completely stopped,” Small said. “I had this vaporizer that got me through [a vacation], but I had enough people who love me say, ‘put the vape down’ — so I did. Folks are scared half to death. All my friends are encouraging each other not to vape and just err on the side of caution until there’s more knowledge on what the hell is going on.”
Advertisement
The exact cause of the illnesses remains a mystery.
Officials at the US Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that they have launched a criminal probe into the supply chain of companies that manufacture nicotine vaporizers. State and federal officials have said they suspect Vitamin E acetate, an additive found in some illicit marijuana vape cartridges, could be one culprit, and urged consumers to avoid such products. Other patients who became sick, however, were simultaneously (or only) using e-cigarette devices. And experts have also raised concerns about additives found in regulated marijuana cartridges, such as propylene glycol.
So far, no cases have been linked to the use of marijuana products sold at licensed stores in Massachusetts. Nonetheless, the data from the commission suggests that lingering uncertainty around the cause of the outbreak is discouraging many consumers from using vaporizers at all.
Brandon Pollock, the chief executive of marijuana firm Theory Wellness, said consumer spending on vape cartridges at his company’s recreational shop in Great Barrington has dropped about 20 percent since news emerged of the health crisis. Overall revenue has remained steady, though, suggesting consumers are simply switching to other methods of consuming cannabis.
Like many other licensed marijuana firms in Massachusetts, Theory Wellness has launched a marketing campaign aimed at convincing customers its vaporizers are safe and contain only pure marijuana concentrate and cannabis-derived terpenes, aromatic compounds that occur naturally in the plant.
Advertisement
Despite the recent dip, Pollock is predicting that vaporizer sales will rebound and continue growing. That’s because the devices are more convenient and less odorous than marijuana flower, he said, and because he believes the health scare will prompt consumers to switch from illicit products to those sold in regulated stores.
“I’m not surprised there’s an initial contraction,” he said. “I actually expect an increase in sales as people really exit the black market. I think people right now are just digesting the news — in the long run, this is good for the regulated cannabis industry.”
While the vaping-related illnesses have only recently made national headlines, many local doctors say the issue has likely been going on for much longer. That’s because the vaping-related symptoms — such as fevers, chest pain, and trouble breathing — could easily have been mistaken by physicians for pneumonia or another common infection. Also, most doctors only recently began asking patients whether they use vaping devices.
A significant number of experienced marijuana consumers and patients said they had already stopped using vaporizers even before the news of the health crisis, concerned about the presence of additives or the possibility that the heating coils in cheap, Chinese-made cartridges could be leaching heavy metals into the oil they contain.
“I used vape cartridges as my main source of medicine for about five years, but I’ve actually stopped using those and threw my last one away completely,” said Kate Phillips, a former dispensary manager and medical cannabis patient who uses the drug to treat symptoms of Lyme disease. “I started to feel health effects I didn’t like, and at the end of the day, the dispensaries just couldn’t back up their claims that these additives and the disposable cartridges are safe. I didn’t feel like being a guinea pig.”
Advertisement
The cannabis commission last week voted to require licensed marijuana firms to disclose more information on vaporizer cartridge packaging about the type and quantity of additives in such products. The agency has also said it will soon send a bulletin and survey about vaping to the companies it regulates, and that it is coordinating with cannabis testing labs about whether they can detect possibly harmful additives.
Dan Adams can be reached at daniel.adams@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Dan_Adams86. Felicia Gans can be reached at felicia.gans@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @FeliciaGans.