In Completely Irresponsible and Negligent Message, American Lung Association Warns against E-Cigarette Use, but Not against Vaping THC

In response to the alarming outbreak of severe, acute respiratory disease that has now affected more than 450 people in 33 states and has killed six people, the American Lung Association issued a statement yesterday stating that no one should continue using electronic cigarettes, which it says can cause "irreversible lung damage." According to the statement: "E-cigarettes are not safe and can cause irreversible lung damage and lung disease. No one should use e-cigarettes or any other tobacco product. This message is even more urgent today following the increasing reports of vaping-related illnesses and deaths nationwide."

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This is an irresponsible and I believe negligent message that is going to cause a lot of harm. By hiding from the public the fact that the overwhelming majority of cases have been associated not with electronic cigarettes, but with the vaping of marijuana, this message is actually going to result in many youth continuing to vape THC products.

Rather than tell the truth and issue a clear and unequivocal warning that people should stop vaping THC vape cartridges, this message to avoid e-cigarettes is not only failing to prevent further cases of the disease, but it is essentially going to cause more diseases because youth are going to be misled into thinking that the risk is associated with e-cigarettes, not vaped marijuana.

Furthermore, banning flavored e-cigarettes, as the White House is apparently considering, would not doing anything to stem the outbreak, since e-cigarettes do not appear to be causing the outbreak. Instead, a ban on flavored e-cigarettes would lead many ex-smokers to go back to smoking.