A study conducted by Yale University reveals that the American states with the highest rates of marijuana use and vaping are not those with the most lung damage.
- In US states with the highest rates of marijuana use and vaping, the number of lung injury cases per capita has declined.
- On the contrary, states with a more restrictive policy on vaping and recreational marijuana have the most lung injury cases per capita.
The lung lesions that caused 68 deaths in the United States and one death in Belgium last year were not caused by the consumption of marijuana, any more than by that of the electronic cigarette. which came from researchers at the School of Public Health at Yale University (United States). In a study published in the journal Addictionthey believe that the total relationship between the total number of cases of lung injury associated with the use of electronic cigarette or vaping products (called EVALI across the Atlantic) is not related to cannabis use or vaping.
On the contrary, according to them, in the American states with the highest rates of marijuana use and vaping, the number of EVALI cases per capita has decreased.
“If e-cigarette or marijuana use per se is driving this epidemic, regions where these behaviors are more prevalent should show higher prevalence of EVALI.says assistant professor Abigail Friedman. This study finds the opposite result. Besides geographic clusters of states with high prevalence of EVALI, these results are more consistent with locally available e-liquids or additives that are driving the EVALI outbreak than with a widely used product and available nationally.”
Vitamin E acetate in question
Last August, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – the American health authority – opened an investigation into lung injuries linked to the vaping of e-liquid of marijuana after having identified 2,800 cases, including 68 fatalities. Authorities eventually concluded that vitamin E acetate, an additive found in homemade marijuana e-liquids, was the cause of the lung damage.
This epidemic then prompted the federal authorities to adopt various laws to limit the sale of nicotine e-cigarettes or ban flavors, or even to ban all sales of e-cigarettes, as was the case in late Massachusetts. 2019.
For the authors of the study, the authorities took the wrong road to reduce the risks of EVALI, since the danger came from e-liquids from informal sources.
They are based in particular on data from the first five states to have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes. Alaska, California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington state have all had less than one case of EVALI per 100,000 people aged 12 to 64. Conversely, none of the states with the highest prevalence of EVALI (Utah, North Dakota, Minnesota, Delaware, and Indiana) have permitted the recreational use of marijuana.
For the study authors, the study’s findings should prompt states to consider the potential unintended consequences of their policy that prohibits smoking marijuana while allowing THC e-liquids.
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