General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDo Not Use vapes by these three companies:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/10/health/vaping-outbreak-2019-explainer/index.htmlhttps://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-takes-aggressive-action-protect-new-yorkers-harmful-and-addictive-vaping
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)Better advice: don't buy THC vape liquids from anywhere but a reputable MJ dispensary. Don't buy it on the STREET.
This has nothing to do with Nicotine Vaping, as I said from the beginning on these boards since the scare stories started coming out a couple weeks back.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)Are you so sure that the acetate is not used in nicotine vaping?
It has nothing to do with THC either. It seems to be the acetate.
Folks: vape dry herb.
It's like food and booze. The more highly processed the thing ingested, the more damaging it is. White bread, coca-cola and whiskey are damaging compared to brown bread, coffee and beer.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)It's used by those sketchy black-market cart makers to make their products thick and gooey.
Nicotine vape juice is somewhat watery. THC hash oil is really thick, like tree sap. Unless it's been diluted, in which case it's thinner. But people got wise to diluting, so the black-market scumbags started putting in thickeners to make their products look as viscous as real dispensary-made 85%+ THC hash oil. One of those thickeners is Vitamine E acetate.
Moral of the story, go to dispensaries in legal states, instead of traphouses to get your weed. Much safer.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)backscatter712
(26,355 posts)I'd be vaping herb myself, but...
1. Herb-vaping rigs are a lot more expensive than a battery pen and hash oil carts.
2. Oil carts are nice and stealthy - they barely smell at all.
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)Nobody is going to put the name of the CUT company ... on the package of their drugs.
"Hey, customer, how'd you like some 'Gerber Baby Laxative Brand' cocaine?"
Do you follow now?
It DOES have to do with THC, albeit indirectly.
And YES I'm sure the vitamin E acetate is NOT being used in nicotine vaping.
It's being used to CUT 'high value' drugs (THC), by street dealers, who probably buy THC in liquid form from dispensaries in states where it's legal ... and sell it in states where it's not, after cutting it the Vitamin E.
Nicotine is not a high value drug, it's dirt cheap, there's no reason to cut it, especially not with an OIL, given that nicotine is water-soluble, unlike THC. You'd just 'cut it' with more vegetable glycerin if at all. That's an even cheaper 'cut' than Vitamin E.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)to know the names of companies that make 'cut'.
The premise of the OP, to whit, that one can possibly protect themselves by knowing the names of 3 companies that actually just make cut (which is always used secretly) I'm asserting is flawed ... but you appeared to disagree with that.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)Last edited Wed Sep 11, 2019, 03:41 PM - Edit history (1)
You are correct that the companies thickening the fluid with the acetate are shady at best and knowing their names is not much help.
I didn't realize that was the key point in your intention. Thanks for setting me straight.
The other info, which I took as the "meat and potatoes" of the post is good. But yes the title of the thread (re names of the 3 companies) promises help which likely can't be deduced from the packaging.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)And it tends to be in these sketchy additives that tend to go into black market vape carts.
mr_lebowski's right - get your THC vapes from a licensed, legal dispensary, not from a black-market dealer.
The dispensaries are regulated, and are required to test their products, label them with their THC & CBD content, avoid toxic pesticides, and not use sketchy additives. And they're not going to jeopardize their business by putting shit in their products that puts them under scrutiny or gets their customers sick.
Docreed2003
(16,858 posts)But it seems like there's a push by some to use this as a means for outlawing ALL vaping. It's ridiculous
samnsara
(17,622 posts)..but then that doesn't mean anything. The thickening agent I'm aware of is glycerin..vegetable grade. I use this very same product to boil pine needles in when I want to make them flexible for weaving baskets. Its used in soaps and creams etc but i don't ever think its meant to be inhaled! Also some of the vape pens are made for the vast amount of smoke they produce...and some burn realllly hot. And of course vaping all day doesn't help any. I stick with dry material and only use a vape pen sparingly at night to relieve those damned leg cramps ( and yes it works!)
Pisces
(5,599 posts)Inhale liquid chemicals into your lungs and think there will be no long term effect. You dont need to be a doctor or a scientist to figure this out.
ET Awful
(24,753 posts)Bronchodilators (Albuterol, etc.), many steroids, some antibiotics, etc.
Pisces
(5,599 posts)obamanut2012
(26,068 posts)Nor "Big MMJ Vaping."
eggplant
(3,911 posts)Pisces
(5,599 posts)Directed me to is completely different from inhaling nicotine or any other stimulant. Liquid breathing is a different thing. When big tobacco tries you to convince something is a safe alternative to smoking I think we are justified by their past behavior to question it. And years from now when people are dropping dead from nicotine vaping because who could of guessed vaporized nicotine is no better for lungs than cigarettes the I told you so wont matter and big tobacco will have made billions. Same story, different product. Dont vape!
stopdiggin
(11,301 posts)but "injuries", as in subject of OP, have not been identified with vaping legitimate nicotine products.
superpatriotman
(6,247 posts)Or deaths, I believe
Pisces
(5,599 posts)Future. THis is an epidemic for the youth of today who would never have picked up a cigarette and are now addicted to vaping. All the attacks on my post that vaping is bad makes me wonder why anyone would push a product this product. If it is your alternative to smoking have at it. Trying to make it sound like its perfectly healthy is crazy.
Big tobacco may not have been initially involved but they are now. I wouldnt trust anything they have to say on the matter.
eggplant
(3,911 posts)You started with "all vaping is bad" and now you're down to being "sure" that vaping nicotine will have long term effects on today's youth.
That would be the nicotine, not the vaping. Personally, I'd rather that nicotine go away completely, but that's not happening any time soon.
Quality controlled and monitored manufacturing of THC/CBD vapes is as safe and effective a way to consume THC and CBD as it comes. There is no shortage of people who benefit medically from THC and CBD. The evidence of its value is overwhelming. Vaping is a simple, efficient way for them to use it.
People dying from vapes is because there is zero oversight of the product. Back alley plastic surgery kills, too, as does moonshine, and a host of other unregulated products.
Mariana
(14,856 posts)and all the laws in the world aren't going to stop illegal sellers from adulterating their "products" with poisons.
Pisces
(5,599 posts)A cigarette is bad. Vaping for medical reasons is not how this thread started. Im not moving the goal post at all. I dont advocate inhaling nicotine in any form. I find it interesting that there are so many arguing for its use. Medical needs aside, this has become a youth epidemic in high schools. Healthy and vaping should not be 2 words used in the same sentence.
The Liberal Lion
(1,414 posts)That's all your entire stance can be summed up as.
Pisces
(5,599 posts)A +B = C
Logical conclusion. I dont need to wait around 20 years to see it come true.
The Liberal Lion
(1,414 posts)Cigarette smoking is condemned because it causes lung cancer and other diseases (not caused by nicotine consumption). Traditional nicotine vaping has been around for at least 10 years, there are no cases of lung cancer. Ten years is a long enough period to know, you can wait 20 if you want but the results will be the same. Like I said, conjecture heaped on top of a logical fallacy.
Pisces
(5,599 posts)Problem that will arise from vaping.
The Liberal Lion
(1,414 posts)So long if you aren't shocked in the next ten years that no lung issues, or emphysema or whatever arises from vaping.
Deal?
Revanchist
(1,375 posts)Since vaping is so bad for you.
Pisces
(5,599 posts)jayfish
(10,039 posts)nicotine to be addictive outside its inhalation from a combusted cigarette. While your at it, why don't you dig one up that shows nicotine is harmful outside of a combusted cigarette as well.
The Liberal Lion
(1,414 posts)The Liberal Lion
(1,414 posts)thereby making your point moot. Big tobacco has a 38% share of Juul, and are the producer of the Blu cig and several other "cig-a-like" products, otherwise big tobacco plays no part in the vaping industry. I can tell you this is an active professional in the vaping industry.
Regardless, nicotine containing e-liquid is neither the problem not the subject of this post.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)And Big Tobacco fought vaping for years before they finally gave in and started trying to corner the market. Before they were involved it was all mom and pop kinda shops, buying liquid nicotine and making juices and selling vaping devices.
Big Tobacco would MUCH rather be selling cigarettes, they're much more profitable. But the success of the mom and pop vape shops, along with the drops in rates of smoking, led them to belatedly get massively involved.
Vaping is not a Big Tobacco plot, much as the alarmists want everyone to believe.
LiberalLovinLug
(14,173 posts)Its much safer than smoking it. No additives or chemicals. One needs a vaporizer that can vape raw leaves.
The way they were meant to be used when they first came out. Just like coffee machines with their "pods", everything in society has to be ordered and easy, so of course they had to market new, "easier" ways to take in nicotine and thc.
Its too bad simple vaping of plant material, which is as safe as you can get, is lumped into this story.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)oregonjen
(3,336 posts)Being a concerned parent, I want to make sure I understand correctly. Using a vaporizer that has a battery to heat up the dry plant, is that how it works? Also, I have heard of vaporizers exploding in users faces. Is that not a danger anymore?
Thanks in advance!
The Liberal Lion
(1,414 posts)It is true that, due to careless usage, a very small number of people have experienced thermal runaway or venting on the batteries they use in their personal vaporizer. This is kind of specialized so I'm going to present this as though you know nothing about vaporizers. If you do please excuse my attempt to educate. In general, when it comes to traditional nicotine based e-liquid vapers utilize one of two kinds of vaporizers. These are mechanical mods and regulated mods. Regulated mods regulate the power output of the battery when the vaper hits the "fire" button. In addition to regulating the power output they also contain safety features that prevent a short circuit, battery overvoltage, over current and battery under voltage (the causes of thermal runaway and battery venting). With these kinds of vaporizers (mods) "explosion" (battery venting) is not possible. In the case of a short circuit, overvoltage, over current or undervoltage the mod will not fire. In the case of a malfunction with the electronics on the mod the mod will not fire. On the other hand there are mechanical vaporizers (mechanical mods) or simply "mechs". When you see a story of a vape "exploding" it is with these kinds of devices. These kinds of devices have either no or little safety features. In many cases the battery is connected directly to the atomizers, and this presents the opportunity for additional dangers. These kinds of devices are for advanced vapers and no beginner should even consider them. A battery will vent in these kinds of devices because there is no short circuit protection (recently mech makers have begun introducing short circuit protections like lined tubes and insulated atomizer connections) and the user has not taken the time to insure that their battery is safe to utilize in a mech (complete and untorn casings for instance). Sometimes people push batteries beyond their intended amp (current draw) ratings, even experienced vapers do this sometimes. This can lead to thermal runaway. However, a careful vaper will never have these problems and a good vape shop (like mine) will insure that anyone attempting to buy a mech understands both battery safety and Ohm's law.
At this point I do want to make it clear, vaporizers do not explode, it's careless battery usage that leads to venting and/or thermal runaway.
oregonjen
(3,336 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)THC vaporizes at 157 deg C. The heat to get it there decarboxylates the THCA (THC carboxylic acid) on the way up to 157. That converts the plant THCA to THC. In organic chemistry terms it removes a molecule of CO2 as the attached carboxylic acid part COOH is converted to an attached H part (hydrogen atom).
At 205 C and above, the cannabinoids can be converted to unhealthy cyclic and polycyclic hydrocarbons like benzene.
The terpenes vaporize below the THC and on into the cannabinoid range. They provide the flavor.
Put 0.3 to 0.35 g of 20% THC cannabis bud into the chamber. You can get 3 or 4 "sessions" during the day. First vape at 177 C, then 184, 191, and finally 197 if you do four that day.
Different vaporizers will vary as to what procedure works best. I recommend the Boundless CFX vaporizer as price competitive and very effective.
(Ignore the "treatments" below)
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)Vaping herb is much better than smoking it or vaping highly processed concentrates.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)SCVDem
(5,103 posts)There are six dead.
Do not exhale that crap in my direction! I will consider it assault!
Once again, natures flowers have hurt no one.
We just have to mess with a good thing!
rickyhall
(4,889 posts)backscatter712
(26,355 posts)which was really intended to torment minorities and hippies.
It's only now that states are finally coming around to the truth of legalize & regulate.
Of course, with Trumpoids in control of the federal government, they're not going to move on this.
jayfish
(10,039 posts)And do what?
The Liberal Lion
(1,414 posts)Riddle me this: if vaping (traditional, nicotine containing e-liquid) were such a public health danger why is it that states like MI and NY are only attempting to ban non-tobacco flavors of e-liquid and not vaping entirely? Or better, if vaping were so dangerous why does the Royal College of Physicians conclude that vaping is 98% safer than smoking (https://vapenews.com/vape-news/royal-college-physicans-latest-report-e-cigarettes-promote-public-health-uk/) and is a potential BENEFIT to the public at large? Or just the best, if vaping is so dangerous why is it that the UK now promotes vaping by having vape shops in hospitals (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/09/vape-shops-open-nhs-hospital-sites-bid-stub-smoking/)?
I can respect that you wouldn't want to be around second hand vape. And many other vapers hold a similar level of etiquette in this regard. However, let's be real, breathing the air of any modern day city is A LOT more hazardous then breathing second hand vape. Again, your wishes should be respected, nevertheless, there is no need to be overwrought with fear and loathing in the case some idiot decides that disturbing your peace with their big clouds of vapor is acceptable.
I wish you peace and joy
Mariana
(14,856 posts)AllyCat
(16,183 posts)You know, things that we weren't evolved to manage? Smoke, chemicals, car exhaust, etc...
Johnny2X2X
(19,060 posts)Marijuana advocates worked tirelessly for decades to get weed legalized because it's all natural and safe, then as soon as it's becoming legal across the land people decided to start using chemicals they get from China to make it into a liquid they can vaporize. How dumb is that?
Don't vape, period, it's not regulated enough to be safe. There's simply no telling where the cutting agents were bought and there's no testing infrastructure out there to guarantee quality and safety.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)The Liberal Lion
(1,414 posts)As a long term vaper, an enthusiast, a hobbyist, an advocate and yes a vape entrepreneur I want to protest (respectfully) the usage of the word "vapes" to describe THC carts. Yes, I am aware that one utilizes THC carts in nearly the same way as traditional nicotine (or even non-nicotine) containing e-liquid, but the vape industry is currently under attack relentless due to factors that does not even involve traditional, non-THC, e-liquid. In this modern day age of information overload someone may read just your headline without reading any further and conclude vaping = death. While I am no physician or biological scientist I dispute this notion that traditional e-liquid vaping, when done correctly, is a hazardous activity. I am not here to troll you or to argue with you, but rather only asking that such articles be posted in a way that clearly identifies the real danger. Again I submit this for your consideration respectfully.
jayfish
(10,039 posts)Don't kid yourself. It's intentional.
Initech
(100,068 posts)Vaping is dangerous to your health, the dangerous chemicals are an added health risk at that.
The Liberal Lion
(1,414 posts)Life is a health risk. I choose to enjoy it with vaping.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)Vaping is faaaaaaaar less risky than smoking.
With smoking - lighting plant matter on fire, the combustion process releases all sorts of toxic and carcinogenic byproducts.
When half a dozen people die of breathing this specific additive in vapes - a problem that's easily fixed, everybody freaks out.
When tens of thousands of people die of smoking-related illnesses like COPD and lung cancer every single year, people go "Meh." Or at best, you get a little black humor...
TheBlackAdder
(28,189 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)No roller coasters and horror movies for you!
Everything you eat and breathe fucks with your lungs, body, and brain. Living leads to death.
Animals self-medicate (parrots eating clay, chimps eating certain leaves, many examples). Elephants like to get drunk on fermented fruit and a little merry, trampling villages in the process. Birds get so drunk on berries that they flop around on roads and get run over.
Children seek alternative experiences, like whirling around until they are dizzy. You've never heard of "runner's high"? Look up Welsh Rarebit.
Don't eat cheese at night.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)So I can certainly understand anyone who wants to rationalize simple desires over simple safety... discipline takes a lot to achieve, a lot less than rationalizing our bad decisions as something other than what they are.
As a pack a day smoker, I have to realize that as such... or simply pretend to myself that smoking brings me diaphanous benefits.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)TheBlackAdder
(28,189 posts).
Trump-loving conspiracy nut recommends drinking turpentine to kill intestinal parasites
As reported by NBC News Ben Collins, a woman attending the QAnon 9/11 rally at the Washington Monument told the audience about her use of turpentine to kill off intestinal parasites as part of a question-and-answer session among her fellow QAnon true believers.
Minutes after she made this recommendation, reports the Daily Beasts Will Sommer, the rally goers roundly booed the concept of vaccines.
According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, ingesting turpentine can cause a wide range of medical maladies including blood in urine, blood in stool, vomiting blood, kidney failure, loss of vision, and seizures.
If the person swallowed turpentine, give them water or milk right away, unless a provider tells you not to, the U.S. National Library of Medicine recommends. DO NOT give anything to drink if the person has symptoms that make it hard to swallow. These include vomiting, convulsions, or a decreased level of alertness. If the person breathed in the turpentine, move them to fresh air right away.
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/09/trump-loving-conspiracy-nut-recommends-drinking-turpentine-to-kill-intestinal-parasites/
Vaping is such a lame drug habit, and let's not kid ourselves that it's for pleasure. My mom smoked even after developing emphysema because she was addicted to it, while always claiming she could stop at any time and just smoked for the taste and to give herself something to do.
Vaping oils are even worse than the tar and polonium-210 in cigarettes. Many oils and 'natural ingredients' are extremely harmful to the lung tissue and are added to the blood system relatively quickly. The oils run rogue and coat everything, and are so goofy to watch leave a car window. The only thing more pathetic are e-cigs.
.
Bradshaw3
(7,516 posts)And stop stalking other posters, and add postive contributions as a nice change.
The Liberal Lion
(1,414 posts)and patently false things about e-liquid. I recognize these things are being said by those who don't quite understand traditional, nicotine based vaping. The thing I'm seeing most often said is something like "vaping should be banned because it's not regulated".
Nothing could be further from the truth!
First and foremost and probably most importantly the vape community itself polices itself. It was the vape community that first published standards for e-liquid manufacture and it was e-liquid producers who voluntarily conformed. See more here: https://www.aemsa.org/standards/
When a e-liquid manufacture is found to have violated the standards as setup by The American E-Liquid Manufacturing Standards Association the community crucifies them. To see what I am talking about goto youtube and search for Dr. crimmy e-liquid and Adore e-liquid.
Finally, I wonder if any of the people who cite "lack of regulation" know about the Pre-Market Tobacco Application. Vaping products were re-classified as "tobacco products" (despite the fact that they contain ZERO tobacco) and therefore any vape product that first came on the market after 2/15/2007 was required to submit a PMTA. For vaping that's EVERYTHING. An application will cost a vape product manufacturer nearly $1,000,000 PER PRODUCT (including every different flavor an e-liquid manufacture may produce). And even with that application and high price there is zero guarantees that the FDA will approve of the product.
So to say traditional e-liquid vaping should be banned because it's unregulated is wholly false. It is a highly and unduly regulated industry.
jmbar2
(4,874 posts)I am always astonished at the lengths people will go to rationalize purposefully inhaling stuff into your lungs.
From a purely risk/benefits perspective, what are the benefits that you receive from inhaling these chemicals, compared to the risks?
The Liberal Lion
(1,414 posts)that any greater than breathing AIR in any modern city? What risk do you believe exist? Seriously. Let me tell you what has happened to me in the now six years that I have vaped:
1. improvement of respiratory health including the ability to taste and smell again and no longer coughing up almost solid pieces of phlegm every morning due to my 30+ year smoking habit
2. Improvement of circulatory health
3. Increase in endurance
4. Reduction in my nicotine addiction in that I went from smoking a pack a day of full flavor Marlboro's to vaping e-liquid of 2.4mg/ml to now where I either vape zero nic or only as high as .03 mg/ml. If you're willing to do the math, I vape about 10ml of liquid a day. If I were only vaping .03 mg/ml e-liquid (which I 50% of the time vape zero nic) you would find it takes me nearly 3 months of vaping to receive the same amount of nicotine in a pack of 20 full flavor cigarettes.
And these are only the health benefits I received.
Why do I continue to vape when my nicotine addiction is nearly non-existent? I enjoy the flavors. I make my own e-liquid, and let me tell you crafting an eliquid that present a realistic taste experience is an artform and I enjoy it thoroughly. So there we find another benefit for me personally. It gives me an opportunity to express my creative side.
So there is your answer. Make of it what you will.
Vaping is not something for non-smokers. It is an alternative to smoking for smokers and former smokers. Until you can understand it from that context I guess you'll continue to express sarcasm. In conclusion I don't encourage you, who I imagine is a non-smoker, to ever vape, which I imagine you won't. It's not for you. But for smokers and former smokers it has many improvement and quality of life benefits.
Pisces
(5,599 posts)Epidemic in our high schools from kids who have never smoked cigarettes before. These kids are also more likely to buy cheaper made cartridges. For smokers who switch as an alternative it makes perfect sense. If only this was how it is being used as well as marketed.
The Liberal Lion
(1,414 posts)I'm going down to my lab right now to make myself a nice peach-blueberry recipe that I created last night. You want me to send you some? Zero nic of course.
I'm just being a smart ass
Cheers
jmbar2
(4,874 posts)Are you dependent on it? What happens if you stop for a few days?
The Liberal Lion
(1,414 posts)However, to answer your question, I have been without my setup for days at a time, I didn't like it because of my oral fixation, but I had no nicotine withdrawal effects.
Also because I have a fully operational lab where I make liquid which cost me a ton of money to build and stock, and I own a personal supply of thousands of dollars of vape gear I have absolutely zero desire not to vape. It's a lifestyle choice for me. I admit that freely.
jmbar2
(4,874 posts)It helps me to understand a phenomenon that is frankly, incomprehensible. Take care.
jayfish
(10,039 posts)the benefits to me are that it keeps me off of actual cigarettes (you know the things that cause a host of diseases and really kill people) and I derive pleasure from the activity.