09/24/2019
As a small business owner involved in the va**ng industry for the better part of the last decade, I wanted to take some time and alleviate some of the concerns we’ve heard from our customers as well as what their friends and family are telling them. As a former smoker who quit by way of va**ng, seeing all the negative and misleading reports in the media regarding va**ng push people back towards smoking truly saddens and worries me.
In the years since va**ng was introduced to the world, there have been numerous studies done showing the massive reductions in risks for va**rs compared to smokers. It has proven to be the most successful cessation aid, and contributed greatly to the lowest rates of smokers worldwide. Health Canada acknowledges that:
- Replacing smoking with va**ng lowers exposure to harmful chemicals
- Former smokers who completely switch to va**ng see health improvements
- Va**ng products contain a fraction of the 7000+ chemicals found in a single cigarette
Over the past several weeks, we have been inundated with reports regarding respiratory illnesses linked to va**ng. While there has been some responsible journalism, the vast majority of news outlets have flooded social media and newsfeeds with headlines depicting va**ng as the culprit. What they have failed to stress is that most of these cases have one thing in common – patients reporting these symptoms and illness were in fact using oils derived from cannabis. Specifically, Vitamin E Acetate, a diluting agent meant to maintain the same viscosity as pure THC oil while actually cutting it down to lower strengths and maximizing profits. Vitamin E Acetate itself is a perfectly safe ingredient when ingested orally, however it was never meant to be vaped. It is not surprising that the majority of patients reported purchasing these cannabis cartridges/oils illegally; made in unregulated places by criminals. Some of these producers have already been arrested or subpoenaed in their jurisdiction.
Va**ng has been around for well over a decade. Up until this point, there has been no reports of any illnesses of this sort. Suddenly we see an uptick centralized around the USA, and the media starts blaming an industry that has a worldwide footprint. We must ask ourselves, why hasn’t this happened anywhere else? The answer is simple: people using vaporizers to consume e-liquids with ni****ne are not falling ill to this outbreak because e-liquids with ni****ne and e-ci******es are NOT the culprit. In fact, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the USA has recently advised people that THC cartridges containing Vitamin E Acetate are behind a lot of the cases they’ve examined and that if you have quit ci******es through va**ng, do not return to smoking. New York, after proposing a ban on flavoured e-liquids, are now quietly issuing subpoenas to certain companies responsible for manufacturing and distributing this compound. Public Health England has issued a statement advising their stance on va**ng remains unchanged and that va**ng is still at least 95% safer than smoking ci******es.
You or your friends and family members may be wondering, if the truth is that simple, why are we being told otherwise? Why are governments cracking down on va**ng and proposing bans on flavours if it’s only certain cannabis oils that are the cause?
Without wanting to sound like we’re spewing conspiracy theories, the reality is that to***co sales have decreased with the rise of va**ng, along with tax revenues and settlements that governments receive through cigarette sales. There is no other logical explanation to justify demonizing an industry that is reducing harm while ignoring another that claims millions of lives every year. What we are seeing now is an opportunistic and co-ordinated attack with the sole intention of wiping out an industry that is eating into the pockets of very rich and powerful people.
We have included links to articles or bulletins issued by various agencies and news outlets for your own reading. Don’t let the media, or anyone else for that matter, tell you that smoking is safer. Anyone who expresses this opinion is irresponsible and grossly misinformed. The truth belongs to all of us, and the freedom to a healthier alternative is our right.
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/smoking-to***co/va**ng/smokers.html
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/08/30/cdc-warns-va**ng-thc-e-ci******es-sold-off-street/2164188001/?fbclid=IwAR2E_iZc-hzI9zPH4mRCM6Hdl8TAN2RU9DuCchZ715Yhcxhg3DQE3pWT6ys
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20190920/scary-diagnosis-two-stories-of-va**ng-illness?fbclid=IwAR1NQk5-e0tGS1v8UnRT5722MKtItuMIWpx1qa13N2-lUbroB5wP2ay_sTQ
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/09/09/new-york-subpoena-firms-selling-substances-linked-illicit-va**ng-products/?fbclid=IwAR3B9VRruOCWvrNTbhS_x09vlRf8f-ckvV7z8rY8v4Y82V1Biqyw1Dh5hX0
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2016/04/28/royal-college-of-physicians-says-e-ci******es-can-prevent-almost-all-the-harm-from-smoking/?fbclid=IwAR3522rBu4JUAf_axb23aA13j6Qyhzyi-kwcDDSQTdAhGbHXoMmHAlEKcvE
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/17/health/va**ng-us-uk-e-cigarette-differences-intl/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0cMM7I_80mG931NbXwP9gHKRcL0mrbd4PbX8dVLMidG4kyJ8GxetM1YeM
https://wgntv.com/2019/09/23/vape-users-industry-groups-say-flavor-ban-could-encourage-smoking-and-black-market/?fbclid=IwAR1QAq8kdyun4uxmi4K6jxF4n5uph-q-X62C8LeiLvGKyUqJjWWUIrC-ZVM
Va**ng for smokers
