High-flying marijuana vapes take hit from health scare in the US

Vaping products, one of fastest-growing segments of legal marijuana industry, have taken a hit from consumers as public health experts scramble to determine what’s causing a mysterious and sometimes fatal lung disease among people who use e-cigarettes.

Vaping products: A carrier for lung diseases?

ailment has sickened at least 530 people and killed nine. Some vaped nicotine, but many reported using oil containing THC, marijuana’s high-inducing ingredient and said y bought products from pop-up shops and or illegal sellers. only death linked to THC vapes bought at legal shops occurred in Oregon.

Amid health care, amount of legal pot industry’s revenue that comes from vape products has dropped by 15% nationwide, with some states, including Oregon, seeing decreases of more than 60%.

Health officials in California, home to world’s largest legal marijuana marketplace, this week issued an visory urging people to stop all forms of vaping until a cause is determined. Massachusetts, which like California allows so-called recreational use of marijuana by people 21 and older, went furr than any or state, issuing a four-month ban on vape sales.

Vaping THC is popular for those who want a quick high but don’t want smoke that comes from lighting up a joint. Marijuana companies are trying to boost public’s confidence by promoting that ir vaping products are tested by government, demanding ingredient lists from ir vendors and in some cases pulling items from shelves. Some also are scrambling to get liability insurance.

Still, many have seen table declines in sales in few weeks since health scare emerged on a national scale.

“It’s having an impact on how consumers are behaving,” said David Alport, owner of Bridge City Collective in Portland, which in two weeks saw a 31% drop in sales of vape cartridges that hold oil that vaporizes when heated. “People are concerned, and we’re concerned.”

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Vaping products have exploded in popularity

In United States’ booming legal cannabis market, vaping products have exploded in popularity. In roughly two years, y have grown from a small fraction of overall sales to about one-third, with $9.6 billion in sales between 2017 and 2019, according to New Frontier Data, an ecomic analysis firm that tracks industry. About one-fifth of U.S. cannabis consumers report using m.

New Frontier found a 15% decline in market share for vape sales nationwide during first week of September and saw rebound in data collected through Sept. 18. At state level, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Neva, and Montana all saw drops of one-third or more, while California fell by 6%. 

Oregon, which anunced its death at beginning of month and said it was from a vape purchased at a regulated dispensary, saw one of biggest drops in market share for vape revenue — 62%, said John Kagia, firm’s chief kwledge officer. 

Analysts are watching to see if furr erosion occurs following congressional testimony Tuesday by Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who said number of lung illnesses could soon climb by hundreds.

“This is a very, very fast-moving issue, and it will likely be a couple more weeks, if t months before we understand impact it’s really h on retail ecosystem and on consumers’ attitudes,” Kagia said.

In an explosively growing market, “it’s t unexpected that something would come up that would be disruptive,” he said. “But question is, how quick is industry’s response and how agile is that response to assure public and regulators that this issue is being dressed and re’s robust self-governance?”

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A reaction to a caustic substance?

Doctors have said illnesses resemble an inhalation injury, with lungs apparently reacting to a caustic substance. So far, single vaping product or ingredient has been linked to illnesses. Some patients who have vaped only nicotine also have gotten ill.

Health officials in New York are focusing on vitamin E acetate, a viscous solution that’s sometimes ded to marijuana oils. Retailers in some markets are pulling products from ir shelves that contain that and or ditives. Or companies have proactively released public statements saying ir vape oils contain only pure THC.

In Illiis, a mess board for medical marijuana patients banned posters from sharing home vape recipes.

“I just do THC. flavor ditives. I won’t even take that chance,” said Lisa Haywood, a medical marijuana cardholder who lives outside Chicago and follows board for vice and support.

Or medical marijuana users are worried about restrictions on vaping.

If re’s a ban, “what does it do for all se people who have been seeing relief? ... It is going to really impact patients and industry that we’ve fought” to create, said Melanie Rose Rodgers, a Coloro medical cannabis patient and a leer of state’s chapter of Americans for Safe Access, which vocates for medical marijuana patients.

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How to tighten restrictions on vaping products?

State regulators track cannabis sold to consumers but don’t monitor what ditives, if any, are in marijuana oil vapes. That’s led states to begin discussions of how to tighten restrictions on vaping products even as retailers mselves try to determine which of products on ir shelves contain so-called cutting nts.

“We haven’t evolved our system that far to think about what we would test for in those products. A lot of se ditives were conceptual at time when (marijuana legalization) law passed and program came into place,” said Steve Marks, executive director of Oregon Liquor License Commission, which oversees state’s cannabis industry.

“Figuring that out is part of evolution that we have to do as a consumer protection ncy,” he said. “Science is t going to guide us because science is lagging.”

Hilary Bricken, a Los Angeles-based attorney whose firm specializes in cannabis business law and regulatory issues, said legal marijuana industry is moving so fast that many states are “literally making this up as y go,” and vaping scare has stripped away sense of security that consumers get from buying from a licensed dispensary.

vaping crisis will undoubtedly hasten tighter regulation at state level and force industry to patrol itself better to avoid crippling lawsuits, she said.

Bobby Burleson, an analyst with Toronto-based investment and financial services company Canaccord Genuity, said initial problems for vaping segment of cannabis industry should moderate, and health care may, in end, help legal marijuana industry.

crisis “should ultimately accelerate shift away from black market for cannabis products in U.S.,” he said.

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