Even though the COVID-19 pandemic consumes the news, we should mention the latest findings on EVALI (E-cigarette or Vaping use-Associated Lung Injury):- Once the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified vitamin E acetate as the likely reason people were getting sick with EVALI, cases declined.
- The CDC believes this decline is likely due to vape manufacturers eliminating vitamin E acetate from their formulas. It was used as a cheaper, similarly-colored substitute for THC oil or wax to cut (or water down) vape products.
- One in 6 cases of EVALI was associated with THC vapes from a dispensary in a state with legalized marijuana.
While EVALI cases have decreased, the CDC urges caution. The largely unregulated marijuana industry could introduce other chemicals/substances that could cause unintended health effects. As noted below, vaping is still on the rise nationally.
In a recent article published in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers studied a sample of 2,412 12th grade students from 2015-2018 and found that marijuana use is changing:
- Vaping marijuana among youth rose by 7.7%
- Edible consumption of marijuana increased by 7.5%
- Conventional marijuana smoking declined by 5.4%
In 2018, vaping was the #1 way District 113 students used marijuana.
Source: 2018 Illinois Youth Survey conducted with 2,793 Deerfield & Highland Park High School students
