CDC says deaths in vaping cases attributed to THC, not nicotine

The Disease Control and Prevention centre in the USA released that the people who died due to the vaping related lung injury used THC containing substances. Cannibis contains it as the main psychoactive element. In the case of 19 deaths, the information about the type of substance taken was known. Among those cases, almost 63% was reportedly using THC based material, while 37% reported the use of nicotine-based products.

Also, the average age of the dead individuals was higher than the average age of the affected people. The median age of 29 deaths was found to be 45 with 59% male population. The oldest and youngest death was reported to be 75 and 17, respectively.

Washington DC and 24 states of the country reported 36 deaths due to vaping related issues. 1604 lung injury cases were reported by CDC in 49 states. E-cigarette usage was the main reason behind it. The numbers also included the US Virgin Islands and the State of Colombia. More than 80% of the victims of the e-cigarettes were less than 35 years old.

Almost half in the affected group were under the age of 25. Two dead individuals in the incident were less than 25 years old.

CDC Director Robert R. Redfield revealed that the injuries were disproportionately affecting the young people, and more data will help in determining the cause of the outbreak. Dr. Anne Schuchat said that the available data continues to point towards THC as the primary cause of the outbreak. But neither did she give surety on the fact.

FDA’s Director for the Centre of Tobacco Products, Mitch Zeller questioned the reliability of the reports because the substance abusers reported it by themselves. In addition to that, some users may not have known the contents of the substance that they were using. CDC has asked the public to refrain from the consumption of THC containing substances due to the high risk involved.