{"id":8841,"date":"2019-09-28T12:32:15","date_gmt":"2019-09-28T12:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=3668552"},"modified":"2019-09-28T12:32:15","modified_gmt":"2019-09-28T12:32:15","slug":"marijuana-industry-groups-push-for-regulation-amid-national-vaping-related-illness-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/marijuana-industry-groups-push-for-regulation-amid-national-vaping-related-illness-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Marijuana industry groups push for regulation amid national vaping-related illness crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/marijuana-industry-groups-push-for-regulation-amid-national-vaping-related-illness-crisis\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/marijuana-industry-groups-push-for-regulation-amid-national-vaping-related-illness-crisis.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2019\/09\/28\/vape-illness-regulation-marijuana\/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dp-news-marijuana+%28Denver+Post%3A+News%3A+Marijuana%29&amp;utm_content=Google+UK#comments-anchor\"><span class=\"spot-im-replies-count\" data-post-id=\"3668552\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Colorado marijuana industry is pushing for new rules and more stringent regulation on vaping devices,\u00a0including a potential ban on certain additives, amid a nationwide crisis over a mysterious lung disease linked to e-cigarettes and marijuana vape pens.<\/p>\n<p>Industry stakeholders and the state\u2019s Marijuana Enforcement Division are debating proposed rules that will be whittled down next month, and could go into effect as soon as Jan. 1. The proposals include adding more specific information on cannabis product labels, bringing changes that experts said would give consumers a better understanding of what they\u2019re putting in their bodies.<\/p>\n<p>Proposed changes have been in discussion for months, said Stephen Goldman, owner of PhytaTech, a cannabis testing company.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis crisis definitely helped push it along faster,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado has reported <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/e\/2PACX-1vSM_x2Lls4ip-PDZT5LGVYYnwaTya-G4sBNlNM00XM_zs5RekMCbFkIjzzIUqkbxZoVitKg8OwlXhpm\/pub\">eight cases of the vaping-related illness, and six people have been hospitalized<\/a>,\u00a0 according to the state\u2019s Department of Public Health and Environment. Nationally, lung illnesses related to vaping have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/09\/26\/health\/vaping-illnesses-cdc.html\">jumped to 805,<\/a> up from 530 cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control announced Thursday. Twelve people have died, including five in the past week. The CDC has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/tobacco\/basic_information\/e-cigarettes\/severe-lung-disease\/need-to-know\/index.html\">suggested the public refrain from using e-cigarette products<\/a>, particularly those containing THC.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. health officials said Friday that their investigation into an outbreak of severe vaping-related illnesses is increasingly focused on products that contain the marijuana compound THC.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the 800 people who got sick vaped THC, the ingredient in marijuana that causes a high, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But officials said they didn\u2019t know if the THC is the problem or some other substance added to the vaping liquid, such as thickeners.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe outbreak currently is pointing to a greater concern around THC-containing products,\u201d said the CDC\u2019s Dr. Anne Schuchat.<\/p>\n<p>So far, investigators have not identified a particular electronic cigarette, vaping device, liquid or ingredient behind the outbreak. But officials say patients have mentioned the name Dank Vapes most frequently. Many of the people who got sick in Illinois and Wisconsin said they used prefilled THC cartridges sold in Dank Vapes packaging.<\/p>\n<p>The health scare has prompted the federal government and local officials to take action. The Trump administration said it plans to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/09\/11\/health\/trump-vaping.html\">ban flavored vaping products<\/a>, while multiple states have already enacted the measure. In the most extensive action so far, Massachusetts this week became the first state to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/health\/2019\/09\/24\/massachusetts-ban-all-vaping-product-sales-months-toughest-state-crackdown\/\">temporarily ban<\/a> all vaping products.<\/p>\n<p>Conor Cahill, spokesman for Gov. Jared Polis, said in a statement that the governor is \u201cvery concerned\u201d about the issue and has directed staff to look into potential courses of action.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Governor wants to make sure we can identify solutions that are driven by science and will create real, meaningful change,\u201d Cahill said.<\/p>\n<p>Goldman, a member of the working group on marijuana rule revisions, said the proposed changes would make sure all ingredients and additives are included on cannabis product labels, such as vaporizers. The next step, he said, is making risk assessments for those additives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s a pretty significant change for the better,\u201d Goldman said.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado industry watchers said a ban on certain additives may be down the road, but several marijuana companies are pushing for more regulation in a nascent industry that remains illegal at the federal level.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is enough evidence out there regarding certain additives \u2026 that they should be prohibited for use in vaporizers until further research can be performed that can demonstrate safety,\u201d Tyrell Towle, director of chemistry for the cannabis research firm MedPharm, told a group of stakeholders and state regulators at a <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1RNDwFHdQgcGa4R9mGq_3P5UebuM-tbJB\/view\">Sept. 20 working group meeting<\/a>. MedPharm, the company noted, does not use chemical additives.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<p>One of the main hurdles for addressing the vape-illness crisis has been a lack of federal authority. The Food and Drug Administration has an approved list of chemicals and oils \u2014 including some found in vaporizers \u2014 which are only tested when it comes to eating or putting on skin. Those chemicals can have entirely different consequences when they are heated up and inhaled, experts said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey fed a rat all this stuff, but they didn\u2019t give it a mini rat vapor cartridge to see how that affected them,\u201d Chris Barone, founder of The Clear, a cannabis concentrate company. \u201cUntil they test and see if it\u2019s unsafe or safe, no one will really know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even with the lack of federal regulation, Colorado cannabis companies still must adhere to a set of rules. The black market, however, is thriving with all types of products \u2014 and zero oversight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s where a lot of these cartridges are coming from,\u201d Scott Karolchyk, MedPharm\u2019s director of formulation development, said regarding contaminated vaporizers linked to illnesses. \u201cAnd no one really knows what\u2019s in them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Colorado marijuana industry members are pushing for new rules and more stringent regulation, including a potential ban on certain additives found in vaping devices, amid a nationwide crisis over a mysterious lung disease linked to e-cigarettes and marijuana vape pens. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7347,6811,7967,7153,6892,6813,77,5577,6815,9,5019,8038,1,3,7969,6941,61,1736],"tags":[7348,6816,7970,7155,6893,6818,2655,5580,6820,5022,8039,7972,6942],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8841"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8841\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}