A series of e-cigarette-related illnesses point to the need for strong FDA regulation and oversight, whether or not flavoring is banned.
"At least it's better than smoking." It is these words that have become a widespread incantation for e-cigarette lovers. But everything is changing.
Doctors from more than 30 states are reporting hundreds of patients with serious and mysterious lung conditions this year. This is happening against the backdrop of a sharp rise in the popularity of electronic cigarettes. Six people have already died from these diseases. We're in a hurry to understand why generally healthy young people are forced to ventilate their lungs, and how to respond to the increase in these diseases, because the states and the federal government are just beginning to impose regulations on these products. Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, said Wednesday that the FDA has decided to ban the sale of vapes, which are particularly attractive to young people, and President Donald Trump has called e-cigarette smoking a problem. This acknowledgment and the promises to take action are positive in themselves, but much more remains to be done to prevent the current crisis from escalating into an even more serious health problem.
The Food and Drug Administration was ordered to supervise e-cigarettes in 2016. According to the original plan, manufacturers had to obtain permission from him to manufacture their products starting in 2018. However, the agency does not yet control vaping products because the Trump administration has pushed back the application deadline. We can already see the damage caused by inactivity of management. Meanwhile, marijuana and marijuana-derived products, which play a large role in the current crisis, are not regulated at all at the federal level.
Legislators and vaping advocates are calling for tighter restrictions on nicotine e-cigarettes in response to the outbreak of e-cigarette smoking (Bloomberg Philanthropies, founded this week by Bloomberg founder and owner Michael Bloomberg, in partnership with Campaign for the Future Tobacco Free Children”launched an initiative to raise awareness of the potential dangers of e-smoking and to ban flavored e-cigarettes). E-cigarette makers would prefer to focus public attention on marijuana and illegal products sold outside stores. Since we do not know much about the consequences of vaping, and since people die from such smoking,we must actively and actively implement all of the above measures.
The defining characteristic of this growing crisis is uncertainty. On Friday, the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of an analysis of 53 recent cases in Wisconsin and Illinois. They show that 94% of the sick (these are mostly young and healthy people) were hospitalized, and 32% needed mechanical ventilation.
The majority of these patients (84% of those surveyed) reported smoking tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychotropic ingredient in marijuana. They also mentioned two types of illicit cannabis on multiple occasions. However, in many cases, patients reported that they smoked nicotine, and some groups only used nicotine products. Doctors and regulators believe anything from inhaling metal fumes to vitamin E acetate can be the cause of the disease, but so far the main source of the disease has not been found.
What little we know is not encouraging. Scientists have found that e-cigarette liquids contain at least six groups of toxic chemical products. We have no idea what happens when tetrahydrocannabinol is added to them, or when these foods are heated together and inhaled daily for months or even years. Before the current crisis, there were early signs of possible cardiovascular problems, and the Food and Drug Administration is also looking into reports that vaping can cause seizures. There is very little evidence that these products help people quit regular cigarettes. But what is undeniable is that e-cigarettes are addictive and dangerous for a whole generation of young people.
Promotional video:
The priority is to look for specific products that cause these diseases, but regulators cannot stop there. A comprehensive response must address four important issues.
First, the Food and Drug Administration must expedite an analysis of available and legal products with a focus on safety. A ban on flavored products will help curb the vaping epidemic among teens and young people, but after that, stricter age restrictions and a stronger fight against false ads need to be introduced. And then there's the black market problem. The smoking devices people buy on the street and the liquids they use require more attention. Finally, this crisis makes it even clearer that marijuana products should not be left in a normative oblivion that creates more confusion.
The wish list is impressive. But if we leave everything as it is, new diseases and deaths will be the inevitable consequence.
Max Nisen