"Bought illegal THC juices from the US"
Sweden has its first cases of EVALI - lung damage linked to cannabis, e-acetate and vejphing. There are two suspected cases.
"It's not regular e-cigarettes, but THC-containing liquids" says Erik Lindeman, doctors at the Poisons Information Centre to Medical Journal
Erik Lindeman emphasises that it is not about regular e-cigarettes or e-juices bought in Sweden. The two people who fell ill are suspected to have bought their e-liquids online from the US. These e-juices are laced with THC - the psychoactive substance in cannabis.
"We have indications that this way of abusing cannabis has become increasingly popular. And since the customers are buying their products from the very epicentre of this epidemic in the US, I think the risk is quite high that we will see more cases like this". Erik Lindeman to Läkartidningen.
Causes respiratory problems
Erik Lindeman now urges doctors to pay attention to the symptoms: abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, general malaise and increasing respiratory problems.
"When the patient is a young person with respiratory problems, it is important to try to find out if they are vejping and then it is precisely THC-vejping you should ask targeted questions about" says Erik Lindeman to Läkartidningen.
Not ordinary e-liquid
EVALI has in affected many young people in the US and are linked to legal e-juices containing THC (the psychoactive substance in cannabis). The e-liquids in question have been diluted with the thickening agent e-acetate. When e-acetate is heated and inhaled, the cooling vapour can clog the lungs and cause severe pneumonia. Over 2800 Americans have been affected by EVALI and 60 have died.
However, E-acetate is used not in regular e-liquidwith or without nicotine. All ingredients in an e-juice should be water-soluble, mainly to reduce the risk of possible lung damage.
Wrong about nicotine and e-cigarettes
Niklas Linder, he President of the Electronic Cigarette Industry Organisation now hopes that the media and authorities will act responsibly and provide information on lung damage.
"It is black market THC products that are responsible for these harms. Electronic cigarettes, on the other hand, have been singled out as the culprit. The consequences were that many vejpare went back to cigarettes for fear of getting sick. Meanwhile, THC users didn't care much because they didn't associate themselves with vejping. As a result, the number of sufferers actually increased" says Niklas Linder to Vejpkollen.
