Top health officials urge people to stop vaping amid deaths
LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - U.S. health officials are urging people to stop vaping until they figure out why some are coming down with serious breathing illnesses.
On Friday, the CDC said they had identified 450 possible cases in 33 states, including at least three deaths, the most recent in Indiana, the number of cases more than doubling since last week.
The number of confirmed cases in Virginia has not gone up since last week, with a total of six. However, the warnings are prompting some local counties to take action.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s department released the educational video below Friday.
Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman told FOX 5 in just the past year, the amount of high school age students using e-cigarettes has increased by 78 percent and his deputies have found these devices on students in both middle and high school.
In some cases, he says the nicotine levels are 20 times higher than a regular cigarette and THC vapes can have concentrations up to 95 percent, which is 10 times more potent than a marijuana plant from 30 years ago. Chapman says what is even more troubling is what other chemicals are being inhaled.
The CDC has characterized lung illnesses around the country is likely associated with chemical exposure. In Friday's latest update from the CDC, health officials addressed Vitamin E as a possible cause it but right now they say no one substance has been identified in all cases. Most of the people who have become ill have been teens.
That’s why the Loudoun County sheriff is now partnering with the school district to help educate parents, teachers and students about the dangers, with presentations to students as young as 6th grade.
A man smokes an e-cigarette. Vaporizer devices like this, including those that contain THC, are causing an uptick in illnesses reported by users. (Lisa Ducret/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Chapman says getting a handle on the illegal sale of these devices is difficult as they can be bought both in stores or online, but they are going to be cracking down.
“Certainly purchasing THC in the Commonwealth of Virginia is against the law just flat out, but you have to be 21 just to purchase electronic cigarettes. So, what we are doing is working with the folks that sell electronic cigarettes to make sure they are not selling to people under 21 and then we are also performing undercover type operations for people that might purchase the THC content and we are trying to make sure we put an end to that as quickly as we possibly can," said Chapman.
Loudoun County Public Schools Board of Education policy currently prohibits the possession or use of any electronic vaping devices or tobacco products in any school setting.
Chapman is also holding a series of educational forums on the issue. The next one is November 7 at the Sterling Library, all are welcome.