Lindsey Stroud examines reports by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CDPH), finding the department is now omitting specific details about recent vaping-related hospitalizations.  

On August 21, 2019, CDPH reported two cases of vaping-related hospitalizations involving patients who admitted to vaping “both nicotine and marijuana products.”

On September 19, CDPH confirmed 11 more cases, for a grand total of 13. Of these, CDPH interviewed nine patients, who all admitted “using vaping products containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive component of the marijuana plant.”

CDPH press releases on October 3 and October 11 did not mention anything about which substances individuals vaped prior to hospitalizations.

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found a majority of vaping-related hospitalizations were due to vaping THC products. On October 3, CDC announced 78 percent of patients with vaping-related illnesses “reported using THC-containing products.” Similar results have been reported by health departments in Minnesota, Oregon, Texas, and Utah.

It is imperative lawmakers understand these illegal, unregulated THC-laden “vaping cartridges,” which are mostly homemade or available on the black market, are not e-cigarette products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

• E-cigarettes and vaping devices first entered the U.S. market in 2007.

• In 2012, FDA was granted authority to regulate vaping devices as tobacco products.

• In 2016, FDA extended its regulatory authority over e-cigarettes, issuing deeming regulations. Under these rules, no new vaping product could come to market after August 8, 2016, without first completing a premarket tobacco application.

An estimated three million American adults have used vaping devices to quit smoking tobacco cigarettes. Further, e-cigarettes are twice as effective as nicotine replacement therapy in helping smokers quit.

In June June 2019, the American Cancer Society found “e-cigarette use [is] significantly less harmful for adults than smoking regular cigarettes […] because e-cigarettes do not contain or burn tobacco.”  

Making matters worse, far too many policymakers seek to reduce youth e-cigarette use, yet spend little tobacco revenue on such programs. 1998, Connecticut joined other sates in settling with tobacco companies in what became known as the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA).

• The Nutmeg State is estimated to receive “between $3.6 and 5 billion over the first 25 years” in MSA payments.  Despite this, Connecticut lawmakers continue to shortchange anti-smoking efforts. In 2019, Connecticut received an estimated $500.8 million in tobacco settlement payments and taxes, yet dedicated $0 of state funds towards smoking education and prevention programs.