As anti-vaping content becomes more widespread it seems like the message is not really being heard. People have continued to use e-cigarettes and vapes. In the vast majority of cases of lung injury from vapes the injured person has said they use vapes containing THC. THC, the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana, has now been made accessible to people in vapes that are not FDA regulated and have an extremely high chance of damaging a person’s lungs.

At this point the Center for Disease Control has said that there have been 2,051 probable vaping illness cases and 39 deaths, the problem is that no one knows with certainty what exactly is causing this illness. The main suspect is vitamin E acetate which is commonly found in THC vapes that are bought off the street. Without knowing for sure and without regulation of the products the FDA has issued a warning to the public to not use any vapes containing THC.

Vapes containing THC have also created a reason for the United States to legalize marijuana in an attempt to keep people from endangering their health by using unregulated substances. In countries and states where marijuana has been legalized, it is possible to guarantee that the product has been tested and its safety is much more reliably confirmed. Marijuana advocates have been able to use the vaping crisis as a way to promote safe, legal, and regulated marijuana and THC product use.

While conventional nicotine vapes have been blamed for vaping related illnesses, it seems the real issue is vapes containing marijuana. Given that the transaction for the THC vapes is most commonly carried out without any regulation the product can very easily be tampered with and potentially be extremely risky to use. While legalizing marijuana will most likely not make the number of people that vape to decrease it will allow people a way to access marijuana products in a way that does not put them at risk for illness. 

The vaping epidemic in the United States has now shifted the government focus on the topic from nicotine vapes to illegal marijuana containing vapes and many believe that now is the time to focus on legalizing marijuana so as to more effectively ensure the health of the public.