Vaping with THC

As vaping illnesses continue to rise in Connecticut, nine patients interviewed so far by state health investigators reported using products containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. The Department of Public Health has now identified 13 patients who have been sickened after using vaping devices.

As vaping illnesses continue to rise in Connecticut, nine patients interviewed so far by state health investigators reported using products containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Three patients disclosed they also used products containing nicotine.

The Department of Public Health has now identified 13 patients who have been sickened after using vaping devices. The youngest is 15.

While state and national public health officials have asked everyone to consider not using electronic cigarettes as they investigate the cause of 530 severe lung injuries and at least seven deaths nationwide, they

have emphasized the added dangers of using THC products bought from other people.

“Consumers should avoid buying vaping products off the street or from another person, including a friend,” the state Department of Public Health warned Thursday.

Of the nine patients interviewed, only one acquired THC products from a dispensary.

Twelve of the 13 patients have now been discharged from hospitals. Seven are from Fairfield County, three are from the New Haven area and New London, Tolland and Windham counties had one patient each.

Their symptoms included inflamed lungs, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and fever. Patients are also vulnerable to infections.

“I am asking Connecticut residents to consider not using e-cigarette or vaping products while the investigation is ongoing and the search for the exact causes of these lung illnesses continues,” said DPH Commissioner Renée D. ColemanMitchell. “If you chose to continue vaping, you should avoid buying vaping products off the street or from another person, including a friend.”

The state DPH is one of dozens of agencies across the country working with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to identify the chemical combinations that, when superheated by the fourth-generation batteries in the newest vaping devices, are inflaming users’ lungs and making them sick. Cases have been identified in 38 states.

Health officials in Illinois and Wisconsin examined the first 53 cases in their states and found the median age of the users was 19, and most reported having used THC and nicotine-based vaping products. The officials said it’s not clear whether this is a new, or newly recognized, phenomenon, though the pace of the cases began to pick up this past spring. A congressional subcommittee will hold a hearing on the outbreaks Tuesday.

Barbara Walsh, tobacco and vaping specialist for the state health department, recalled the “original messaging” for vaping products was that the vapor was water-based and harmless.

But “in many cases, we’re finding harmful substances in the vapor,” she said.

The initial hope was that vaping could help curtail tobacco use, which leads to the more than 480,000 deaths a year in the U.S. Tobaccorelated illnesses are the leading cause of preventable death in the world. But an explosion in the use of vaping products by teenagers — many of whom said that they had never smoked cigarettes — has led the FDA to call teenage vaping an epidemic.

The use of e-cigarettes by 10th and 12th graders doubled in the past two years, according to data released this week by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health. According to the survey, 1 in 4 high school seniors reported vaping nicotine in the month prior, and 1 in 5 sophomores reported the same.

“With this particular epidemic, as others have said, there are so many unknowns,” Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association, said Thursday in an interview. “This is the known: We know the dangers of nicotine and we do not want to get another generation of children addicted to nicotine.”

Several state lawmakers told The Connecticut Mirror Thursday they planned to introduce legislation to ban flavored vaping products when the General Assembly returns in February.

“It should come as no surprise that this is something the public health committee will consider next year,” Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, a co-chair of the panel, told The Mirror. “We will be ready. We’ve written language on banning flavors. We can definitely take this on.”

New York and Michigan have already enacted bans on flavored vaping products.

Information from The Washington Post is included in this report.

Josh Kovner can be reached at jkovner@courant.com.