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Joel TerryProfessor SmalleyEnglish 100107 October 2019Exploratory Essay Rough DraftHave you ever heard of “Dank Vapes”? Chances are, if you are a teenager or a college student you probably have. Vaping and electronic cigarettes have become a popular form of smoking for many tobacco users. However, recently there has been a huge increase in respiratory illnesses that many believe are linked to vaping use. Electronic cigarette sales have increased from $250 to $500 million from 2011 to 2012 and have quadrupled by 2014 (Palazzolo). The mainstream media talks a lot about the health issues related to vaping and electronic cigarettes, but they fail to talk about the epidemic of black-market THC filled cartridges that is the main cause of these respiratory illnesses. Many of these black-market vaping products contain toxic ingredients such as myclobutanil, heavy metals, vegetable glycerin, and many others. These vaping cartridges have become popular across the US for their availability and cheap prices compared to regulated products sold in dispensaries. In this essay I plan to answer the questions that many people would like an answer to. What are the ingredients that are used in making these flavored vaping concoctions? Should vaping and electronic cigarettes be banned completely? Should people use vaping/electronic cigarettes over traditional cigarette smoking? Does the black-market have a cause to the sudden increase in respiratory related illnesses?The first source I would like to discuss is an academic article titled, “Electronic cigarettes and vaping: a new challenge in clinical medicine and public health. A literature review,” from the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, TN, USA (Palazzolo). In this article I learned that e-cigarette cartridges and solutions contain few ingredients and most of which are non-toxic and non-carcinogenic, especially if used in low quantities. Propylene glycol, which is an FDA approved solvent used in foods, makes up about 90% of e-cigarette solutions. Although a small amount of diethylene glycol, a carcinogen and ingredient used in making anti-freeze, was found in 1 out of 18 cartridges examined by the FDA. But in comparison, traditional cigarette smoke was found to give off thousands of compounds, many of which are known to induce carcinogens. While many of these compounds were also found present in e-cigarette solutions, only a few reports have found the amount high enough to be a risk to humans. Overall the article has concluded that not enough research has been done to determine the impact that e-cigarettes have on human health or if they are a safer alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes. Both can have negative consequences if used in excess. The next article I will use in my findings is a website article titled, “Bootleg Cannabis Vape Carts Have Given Nearly 100 People Severe Lung Diseases and Even Coma,” by Elias Marat. This article talks about the huge increase in black-market sales for fake THC filled vaping cartridges. It talks about a popular black-market name, Dank Vapes, and how it is increasing in popularity across the US for its availability and its cheap price. The article talks about the ingredients that are used in making these bootleg vaping products, some of which are very toxic and can cause death and already have for some people. A 26-year-old Wisconsin man was placed in a medically induced coma after reportedly using a black-market vaping product with the name, “Dank Vapes”. There are many fake black-market vaping brands, but “Dank Vapes” seems to be the most popular and has gained use from people across the globe. Dr. Milton Teske, a health officer with the Kings County department of public health describes his encounters with victims of black-market vaping, “Almost every patient had a different brand name … And everyone had purchased it on the street…Whoever is mixing it up in their garage, they’re adding other flavors, I suspect, or it’s how they’re diluting it. I suspect it’s some type of hydrocarbon” (Teske). The article goes on to explain how these vaping cartridges are created. Usually, street dealers purchase empty vaping cartridges that are easily available online on sites such as eBay or Amazon for very cheap prices. After purchasing the empty cartridges, they then fill them with THC liquid that is usually cut with toxic ingredients ranging from vegetable glycerin to fungicides. They then package these products into generic boxes with various names such as “Dank Vapes”, which are also easily available to purchase on websites like eBay or Amazon (Marat). One last quote I will include is from Mark Hoashi, the founder of Doja app, “They act like a cannabis company but they actually don’t exist. They’re in the packaging industry … These are just people filling cartridges as ‘Dank Vapes.’ It’s not a singular facility. It’s just people in their garages filling them and selling them” (Hoashi). 23622010160Dank Vapes packages can easily be purchased by anyone online for very cheapEmpty vaping cartridges like the ones shown are purchased by street dealers online for cheap prices, then filled with toxic THC liquidThe next article is from the magazine The Telegraph titled, “E-cigarettes may damage the heart, scientists say, as they ask Public Health England to stop recommending vaping” by Sarah Knapton. This article talks about vaping and electronic cigarettes from a global view and gives the opinions on vaping from several countries. For example, in Australia, the use of vaping and electronic cigarettes is completely banned. It is illegal to possess any form of liquid nicotine in this country. They feel that vaping is still a new phenomenon and needs more research and evidence in order to become legal for the public to use. The following was said about e-cigarettes, “There is insufficient evidence to support claims that e-cigarettes are safe or to conclude whether e-cigarettes can assist smokers to quit” (The Australian Department of Health). New Zealand, on the other hand, has a completely different viewpoint on vaping and e-cigarette use. The New Zealand ministry of health encourages vaping and e-cigarette use over traditional cigarettes. They say the following about vaping products, “significantly less harmful than smoking tobacco but not completely harmless.” The US has a viewpoint like that of New Zealand. They claim that e-cigarettes have lower levels of toxicants than traditional cigarettes but that its health issues related to long term usage are still “not yet clear” (US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine). The article then talks about e-cigarettes and how many are becoming addicted at a very young age. The head of Britain’s largest addiction clinic announced earlier this year that children as young as 14 are becoming addicted to e-cigarettes and a huge rise in the amount of young kids seeking treatment to vaping addiction (Knapton).The last source I will use is a newspaper article from the Cincinnati Enquirer titled, “Opinion: Ban won’t stop young people from vaping” by Jacob Bruggeman. This article talks about how vaping and e-cigarettes have gained a rise in national attention recently. After several people dying from vaping related illnesses, president Trump and his administration have now considered prohibition and banning flavored e-cigarettes (Bruggeman). Around that same time, the Ohio Department of Health has issued a vaping investigation claiming that 17 Ohioans from the ages of 16 to 59 have been hospitalized from vaping related lung illnesses (Bruggeman). These statistics are alarming, and any logical person must come to the realization that something is up, why are all these people just now becoming sick in the past year even though vaping and e-cigarettes have been around now for years? Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that his administration is looking to set a statewide ban on flavored vaping products (Bruggeman). Many argue that this ban would only cause havoc to Ohio’s economy and e-cigarette users, many would then rely on the black-market to obtain their vaping products. So what good is this ban going to do? The state’s legislature has already increased tax sales on vaping products and just recently the legal age to purchase tobacco related products has been changed from 18 to 21 years old effective in October across all of Ohio. I must argue that these methods of trying to stop e-cigarette and vaping is only going to make users rely more on the black-market to purchase their products and that is the last thing that we should want to happen. Bruggeman goes on to say the following, “...the lung illnesses and hospitalizations that have renewed public interest in vaping aren’t tied to flavored vapes like Juul. According to the Washington Post, many of these illnesses and deaths are linked to chemicals in marijuana products” (Bruggeman). Obviously, there is something shady going on with such an increase in vaping related illnesses just within the past year.I believe that lawmakers have good intentions in trying to crack down on these vaping related illnesses, but they are fighting the wrong cause. The real cause that needs to be broken down is the huge and increasing black market. They do not understand that banning vaping products and increasing the age to buy products is counter-productive as many will just rely more on the black market to get their products. There needs to be some sort of way to stop the purchase of these black-market packages that are easily available online. Some challenges I found in this essay were finding unbiased sources. I find that many of the sources related to this issue are very biased and either completely approve vaping use or completely disapprove of vaping use. It was hard trying to find sources that are not just trying to push their agenda and just give the reader info and let them make their own opinion. I think there needs to be more mainstream coverage about the black-market bootleg vaping products, instead of just blaming everything on E-cigarettes and vaping companies such as Juul. These companies are regulated, and you know what are in these ingredients, but what you don’t know the ingredients to are the fake vaping products that are being sold and used everyday on the black market.Works CitedBruggeman, Jacob. “Opinion: Ban Won't Stop Young People from Vaping.” , Cincinnati Enquirer, 30 Sept. 2019, story/opinion/2019/09/27/opinion-gov-mike-dewines-vaping-ban-promotes-bad-policy/2423395001/.“.” , 0x0s/f2-albu-g9-M01-D5-99-rBVaVVxP6rSAWBPWAAYj2eEyQVU747.jpg/cereal-carts-new-black-box-dank-vapes-cartridge.jpg.Knapton, Sarah. “E-Cigarettes May Damage the Heart, Scientists Say, as They Ask Public Health England to Stop Recommending Vaping?.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 8 Sept. 2019, telegraph.co.uk/science/2019/09/08/e-cigarettes-may-damage-heart-scientists-say-ask-public-health/.Marat, Elias. “Bootleg Cannabis Vape Carts Have Given Nearly 100 People Severe Lung Diseases and Even Coma.” The Mind Unleashed, 20 Aug. 2019, 2019/08/cdc-mystery-lung-disease-vaping.html.Palazzolo, Dominic L. “Electronic Cigarettes and Vaping: A New Challenge in Clinical Medicine and Public Health. A Literature Review.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 1 Nov. 2013, articles/10.3389/fpubh.2013.00056/full.image/cache/catalog/50pcslot-Hot-selling-E-cigs-G5-Dank-Vape-Cartridge-CBD-10ml-With-Cerami/50pcslot-Hot-selling-E-cigs-G5-Dank-Vape-Cartridge-CBD-10ml-With-Ceramic-Coil-Va-4-800x800.jpg. ................
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