Wednesday, September 11, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Oregon death is second linked to vaping
By Gillian Flaccus
Associated Press
PORTLAND (AP) 4
Public health officials in
Oregon said Wednesday,
September 4, that a person
who recently died of a severe
respiratory illness had used an
electronic cigarette contain-
ing marijuana oil from a legal
dispensary, the second death
linked to vaping nationwide
and the first tied to a vaping
product bought at a pot shop.
Officials have not deter-
mined what sickened the mid-
dle-aged adult, whether the
product was contaminated or
whether they may have added
something to the liquid in the
device after buying it, said Dr.
Ann Thomas with the Oregon
Health Authority.
Thomas declined to name
the brand of the product or the
dispensary during the investi-
gation and said it9s the only
case of vaping-related ill-
ness or death in Oregon that
authorities know about.
<Our investigation has not
yielded exactly what it is in
this product,= Thomas said.
<At this point, some of the
other states have more data
than us.=
As of last week, 215 pos-
sible cases of severe lung dis-
ease associated with the use of
e-cigarettes had been reported
by 25 states, according to the
federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
The battery-powered vaping
devices can be used to inhale
a flavored nicotine solution or
a solution infused with mari-
juana oil.
Illinois officials on Friday
reported what they consider
the first death in the nation
linked to vaping after the per-
son contracted a serious lung
disease. They didn9t say if the
e-cigarette contained mari-
juana oil or just nicotine.
Health officials in some
states have said a number
of people who got sick had
vaped products containing
THC, the compound that
gives marijuana its high.
That9s a critical distinc-
tion in the Oregon case,
according to the American
Vaping Association, which
has blamed the recent spate of
lung illnesses on illegal vape
pens that contain THC.
Wisconsin public health
officials said late last month
that 89% of the people they
interviewed who became sick
reported using e-cigarettes or
other vaping devices to inhale
THC.
In New York state, 32
cases of vaping-related ill-
ness have been reported, with
a <vast majority= involving
people who vape illicit mari-
juana. None has involved
medical marijuana products
sold in compliance with state
law.
New York officials are
focusing their investigation
on an additive used in black-
market vape oils made from
vitamin E. A state health
department spokeswoman
said a lab has found <high
levels= of vitamin E acetate
in <nearly all= the marijuana
samples involved.
Officials cautioned, how-
ever, that there have been
respiratory illnesses diag-
nosed where the vaping prod-
uct did not contain marijuana.
<It9s kind of scary and
it9s hard to believe that any
vaping is really safe at this
point,= said Thomas, the
Oregon doctor.
In Oregon, where mari-
juana is broadly legal for
adults 21 and older, dispen-
saries can9t sell products that
have not been tested by state-
accredited labs.
Mark Pettinger, spokes-
man for the Oregon Liquor
Control Commission, which
oversees Oregon9s legal
marijuana industry, said the
investigation was in its early
stages, but if it turns out the
THC oil was implicated, his
agency can track the product
back to its origin and review
all the testing results.
In general, all marijuana
intended for sale at a legal
dispensary is tested for pesti-
cides and potency, as well as
for solvents, if the product is
not dried marijuana flower.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of
WE HAVE THE TOOLS
TO PROTECT YOUR HOME.
Oregon said he will introduce
legislation next week that
would tax e-cigarettes in the
same way as traditional ciga-
rettes to reduce the appeal to
teenagers who are increas-
ingly taking up the popular
smoking alternative.
<The products are highly
addictive. They9re subject to
minimal safety standards and
oversights, exposing users to
dangerous chemicals ... and
they are getting into the hands
of more and more young peo-
ple,= Wyden said.
The American Vaping
Association said in a state-
ment that vaping products are
<far less harmful than smok-
ing= and have helped people
break their addiction to tradi-
tional cigarettes.
<Making vaping products
more expensive has not been
shown to reduce experimen-
tation by youth and will only
lead to more adults continuing
to smoke deadly combustible
cigarettes,= association presi-
dent Gregory Conley said in
an email.
Health experts say nico-
tine is harmful to developing
brains. Researchers worry
that addicted teens will even-
tually switch from vaping to
smoking.
The 2019 Sisters Movie
House Autumn Arts Series
kicks off with <Miles Davis:
Birth of the Cool= at 7:15
p.m. on Tuesday, September
17. This new critically
acclaimed documentary gives
insight into the jazz trum-
peter, style icon, and musi-
cal revolutionary through a
series of interviews with his
contemporaries and through
Miles9 own words from his
1989 autobiography. The
man behind the best-selling
jazz album of all time (19599s
<Kind of Blue=) was hardly
a saint, and this film pulls no
punches in exploring the com-
plex individual that he was.
<Miles is one of the musi-
cal legends of the past cen-
tury,= said Drew Kaza of
Sisters Movie House. <We9re
extremely excited to bring
this to Sisters as yet another
Central Oregon exclusive. It9s
the perfect event to kick off
the fall season.=
Tickets are available at:
www.sistersmoviehouse.com.
Layer up for
cool nights…
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earns you $250 credit as a future
Seasons resident.* Attend three
consecutive dinners and
double your credit; bring a
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*Must be 62 years or
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