WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the American Vaping Association, a nonprofit that advocates for sensible regulation of nicotine vaping products, responded to the continued failure of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) to issue specific warnings about the dangers of black market THC street vapes. This failure has led some states and cities to issue blanket warnings against vaping, including New York and Los Angeles County, California.
Meanwhile, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is not walking in lockstep with the CDC. Last Friday night, the FDA issued a clear warning on the dangers of vaping THC products, which puts the agency at odds with the CDC.
Gregory Conley, President of the American Vaping Association, released the following statement:
“The CDC is weaponizing a health crisis that is clearly linked to illicit street vapes in order to scare the public about nicotine vaping products. Even the FDA appears to be growing impatient with the CDC, as over the weekend the FDA broke with the CDC’s narrative and issued a specific warning urging consumers to avoid vaping THC products.
“We agree with the FDA — if you don’t want to die or end up in a hospital, stop vaping illegal THC oils immediately.”
Dr. Michael Siegel, Professor of Public Health at the Boston University School of Health, also released a statement criticizing the CDC:
- FDA testing of nicotine vaping products has found “nothing unusual,” according to the Washington Post last week.
- FDA and the New York State Department of Health have found vitamin E acetate, an oil used as a diluent thickener, in only THC products.
- Emergency room doctors, including one in New York, have stated that young patients are often reluctant to admit to using THC.
- Two of the five deaths associated with “vaping” were explicitly linked to THC vaping cartridges by state health departments. Two deaths have no details. In a fifth death, in Los Angeles County, no details of the deceased were released, but the LA County Health Department did state that “nearly all” patients had vaped THC.
- Multiple state health departments have pointed to illicit THC vaping products as the likely cause these illnesses.
About the American Vaping Association
The American Vaping Association is a nonprofit organization that advocates for fair and sensible regulation of vapor products, otherwise known as electronic cigarettes, with the goal of maximizing the number of adult smokers who use these products to quit smoking. The AVA was founded by Gregory Conley, a consumer and industry advocate with a long track record of advocating for vapor products dating back to 2010.
We are dedicated to educating the public and government officials about public health benefits offered by vapor products, which are battery-powered devices that heat a liquid nicotine or nicotine-free solution and create an inhalable vapor. The AVA is not a trade group and does not speak for any particular businesses, including our industry sponsors.
You can learn more about AVA and vaping by visiting the AVA website. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter.
