{"id":1905,"date":"2021-10-21T21:54:34","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T21:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/wp-home\/?p=181977"},"modified":"2021-10-21T21:54:34","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T21:54:34","slug":"during-the-evali-lung-crisis-my-state-banned-all-vapes-we-were-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=1905","title":{"rendered":"During the EVALI lung crisis, my state banned all vapes. We were wrong."},"content":{"rendered":"
During the EVALI lung crisis, my state banned all vapes. We were wrong. – Leafly<\/title> <!-- This is Index Exchange, a script\/\/3rd-party integration that interjects GAM. It needs to be 'ahead' of GTM in the DOM, which comes from Cephalopod. GTM loads GAM. This script needs to setup it's interjection stuff before GAM loads. --> <!-- End Index Exchange --> <!-- Quotes = strings--><!-- No quotes = boolean-->\t <!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v17.1.2 (Yoast SEO v17.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ --> <!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. --> <\/p>\n<p> <!-- BEGIN Sailthru Horizon Meta Information --><\/p>\n<p><!-- END Sailthru Horizon Meta Information --> <!-- Google Publisher Tag --> <!-- End Google Publisher Tag --> <!-- Google Tag Manager --> <!-- End Google Tag Manager --> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat --><br \/>\n <!-- Google Tag Manager (noscript) --> <!-- End Google Tag Manager (noscript) --> <title>Leafly<\/title> <title>Leafly \u00ae<\/title> <title>Loading\u2026<\/title> <\/p>\n<div class=\"bg-white fixed flex hidden inset-0 items-start md:h-auto md:items-center overflow-auto\" id=\"age-gate-container\">\n<div class=\"bg-white md:h-auto mx-auto p-lg text-sm w-full\" id=\"age-gate\">\n<p><label for=\"select-country\">Where are you from?<\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"age-gate__info\">\n<p><button class=\"button\" data-testid=\"age-gate-no-button\" id=\"tou-cancel\">no<\/button><button class=\"button ml-md\" data-testid=\"age-gate-yes-button\" id=\"tou-continue\">yes<\/button><\/p>\n<p><label class=\"checkbox__label my-xl\"><span class=\"text-xs\" id=\"remember-user-label\">Remember me for 30 days. <br \/>I confirm that this is not a shared device.<\/span><\/label><\/p>\n<p class=\"error error--underage hidden\">Darn! You’re not old enough to use Leafly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"hidden age-gate__loading\">Redirecting you to<span class=\"redirect-domain\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-xs mt-auto\">By accessing this site, you accept<br \/>\nthe <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"tou-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/info\/terms-of-use\">Terms of Use<\/a><br \/>\nand <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"pp-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/info\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"container my-xl\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col md:col-9\" id=\"article-content\">\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Earlier this month, a federally-funded study on vaping-related lung injuries confirmed what experts have been saying for years: Legal, regulated cannabis is far safer and better for public health than products purchased in the illicit market. <\/p>\n<p>The new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0376871621005810\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">study<\/a> examined the 2019 outbreak of vaping lung injuries, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/health\/vape-pen-lung-disease-advice-consumers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sickened thousands of people across the country<\/a> and killed at least 68. Analyzing state-level data, researchers found that states where marijuana was legal for adults had a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/lung-injuries-tied-to-contaminated-vapes-were-less-common-in-states-with-legal-marijuana-and-homegrow-study-finds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">42% lower incidence<\/a> of cases. <\/p>\n<p>The lone exception among legal-cannabis states was my home state of Massachusetts, where the incidence of the disease (known as EVALI, or VAPI) was in the top fifth of all U.S. states. Other legal states were in the bottom half. <\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/health\/vape-pen-lung-disease-advice-consumers\" class=\"wp-block-leafly-blocks-leafly-single-inline-block leafly-inline-related-story\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"border border-deep-green-alt border-l-0 border-r-0 my-xl p-md font-bold\">\n<p>Related<\/p>\n<p>Vape pen lung injury: Here\u2019s what you need to know<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a> <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-observing-the-ban-from-inside-government\">Observing the ban from inside government<\/h2>\n<p>At the time of the outbreak, I was a marijuana regulator in Massachusetts, one of the initial members of the state\u2019s Cannabis Control Commission. <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-left\">\n<p>This will go down as one of the worst policy mistakes in the history of cannabis regulation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>As someone who witnessed the state\u2019s response to the crisis firsthand, its failure doesn\u2019t surprise me. It\u2019s the result of what deserves to go down in history as one of the worst policy mistakes in all of cannabis regulation: our governor\u2019s unlawful, ill-advised ban on the sale of all vaping products when the public health problem was at its worst.<\/p>\n<p>I found out about the ban just a few hours before it was announced, on Sept. 24, 2019. Concern had been steadily growing about a mysterious lung illness that appeared to be linked to vaping, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention having <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-health-vaping-cdc\/u-s-cdc-activates-emergency-operations-center-for-vaping-related-illnesses-idUSKBN1W12I2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">activated<\/a> emergency operations to investigate the precise cause. <\/p>\n<p>In response, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced that he was declaring a public health emergency and banning the sale of <em>all<\/em> vape products for four months.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" alt=\"photo-of-massachusetts-governor-charlie-baker\" class=\"wp-image-182338 has-ll lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/during-the-evali-lung-crisis-my-state-banned-all-vapes-we-were-wrong-1.jpg,compress&w=550 550w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/during-the-evali-lung-crisis-my-state-banned-all-vapes-we-were-wrong-1.jpg,compress&w=740 740w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/during-the-evali-lung-crisis-my-state-banned-all-vapes-we-were-wrong-1.jpg,compress&w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/during-the-evali-lung-crisis-my-state-banned-all-vapes-we-were-wrong-1.jpg,compress&w=1480 1480w\"><figcaption> In Sept. 2019, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (above) ordered a four-month temporary ban on the sale of all vaping products in the state. The governor made the announcement amid growing concern about the health effects of vaping products. (AP Photo\/Steven Senne, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"h-health-officials-had-poor-information\">Health officials had poor information<\/h2>\n<p>It was immediately clear to me that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/metro\/2019\/09\/26\/how-charlie-baker-came-decision-ban-vaping-products-for-next-four-months\/6Z8jRFk9qJYdhizL1ed6zJ\/story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">people<\/a> who made the decision were poorly informed, both on the outbreak and the existing use of marijuana vape products in our state. <\/p>\n<p>Given that cannabis regulation was my job, I had been watching reports coming from outlets such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/health\/some-vape-cart-additive-makers-pull-products-others-go-dark\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Leafly<\/a> that suggested the problem could be an additive used as a cutting agent in illicit THC vape cartridges. <\/p>\n<p>On the day the ban was announced, Leafly published an investigative report that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/politics\/vape-pen-injury-supply-chain-investigation-leafly\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">traced the journey of a contaminated illicit-market vape cartridge<\/a> across the globe. But the Massachusetts ban was broad. It included all vape products\u2014cannabis and nicotine e-cigarettes, flavored or unflavored, whether for medical or adult use, licensed or unlicensed. <\/p>\n<p>The ban went into place without any input from the Cannabis Control Commission, and I got the sense that obvious questions had been overlooked. <\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/politics\/vape-pen-injury-supply-chain-investigation-leafly\" class=\"wp-block-leafly-blocks-leafly-single-inline-block leafly-inline-related-story\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"border border-deep-green-alt border-l-0 border-r-0 my-xl p-md font-bold\">\n<p>Related<\/p>\n<p>Journey of a tainted vape cartridge: from China\u2019s labs to your lungs<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a> <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-60-000-medical-patients-ignored\">60,000 medical patients ignored<\/h2>\n<p>Many of us asked whether it needed to apply even to medical cannabis patients, for example. We suggested an exemption for products that exclusively vaped cannabis flower rather than cartridges. Nothing changed initially. People using e-cigarettes to quit smoking were rightly given free cessation resources during the ban, but 60,000 registered medical cannabis patients didn\u2019t so much as receive acknowledgment of their existence.<\/p>\n<p>The administration and some media outlets <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbur.org\/news\/2019\/09\/24\/proposed-vaping-ban-massachusetts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">described<\/a> the ban vaguely as a \u201cpause\u201d on sales in order to give medical experts time to \u201ccollect more information\u201d and \u201cbetter understand the inherent dangers of vaping both nicotine and marijuana.\u201d But none of that data was being discussed.<\/p>\n<p>Our local NPR station\u2019s coverage quoted various officials saying that we were the first state to enact such a ban. \u201cI don\u2019t really care\u201d how the crisis was addressed, one lawmaker said at the time, so long as it was addressed. She <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wgbh.org\/news\/local-news\/2019\/09\/24\/baker-plans-4-month-ban-on-vaping-products-in-massachusetts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lamented<\/a> that Baker didn\u2019t give more \u201ccredit to the Legislature.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img width=\"1024\" height=\"640\" alt=\"Illicit market THC carts containing high levels of vitamin E oil, confiscated in New York. (Courtesy New York State Department of Health)\" class=\"wp-image-114542 has-ll lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/during-the-evali-lung-crisis-my-state-banned-all-vapes-we-were-wrong-2.jpg,compress&w=550 550w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/during-the-evali-lung-crisis-my-state-banned-all-vapes-we-were-wrong-2.jpg,compress&w=740 740w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/during-the-evali-lung-crisis-my-state-banned-all-vapes-we-were-wrong-2.jpg,compress&w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/during-the-evali-lung-crisis-my-state-banned-all-vapes-we-were-wrong-2.jpg,compress&w=1480 1480w\"><figcaption>The real cause of the crisis: Illicit market THC carts containing high levels of vitamin E oil, like these confiscated in New York. (Courtesy New York State Department of Health)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"h-knee-jerk-bans-rarely-work\">Knee-jerk bans rarely work<\/h2>\n<p>As someone who had studied drug policy for years, I knew these types of knee-jerk bans tend to be based more on politics than actual evidence. In this case, the decision to ban all vape products only ended up putting Massachusetts residents at higher risk of serious injury or death.<\/p>\n<p>For my part, I pointed out that purposely pushing people into the illicit market, where the dangerous products circulated, went against every principle of harm reduction and public health. But the decision-makers in the Baker administration seemed to be either unaware of or intentionally ignoring the growing body of evidence linking the outbreak specifically to unregulated THC vape cartridges. <\/p>\n<p>When the state Secretary of Health and Human Services was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wgbh.org\/news\/local-news\/2019\/09\/25\/health-secretary-marylou-sudders-on-bakers-vaping-ban\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">asked<\/a> in an interview to respond to my warning, she didn\u2019t have much of a response. She said: \u201cOur whole point is to bring awareness to the dangers of vaping.\u201d <\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/health\/thc-vape-rules-review-finds-loopholes\" class=\"wp-block-leafly-blocks-leafly-single-inline-block leafly-inline-related-story\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"border border-deep-green-alt border-l-0 border-r-0 my-xl p-md font-bold\">\n<p>Related<\/p>\n<p>Leafly investigation: Lax THC vape rules still allow toxins into your lungs<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a> <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-warning-other-states-not-to-follow\">Warning other states not to follow<\/h2>\n<p>Concerned that other states might follow Massachusetts and also try to institute a ban, which is often the case with bad drug policy decisions like this, I co-wrote with Dr. Michael Sinha from Harvard Medical School an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/politics\/opinion-why-massachusetts-vaping-ban-wont-stop-lung-illnesses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">op-ed<\/a> in the Philadelphia Inquirer urging states not to follow our lead. <\/p>\n<p>Businesses and advocates also pushed back on the ban. Multiple lawsuits were filed by both vape sellers and by medical cannabis patients. <\/p>\n<p>In response to one of these lawsuits, a Massachusetts Superior Court Judge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shaleentitle.com\/wilkins-decision-ccc.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">found<\/a> that the ban was \u201cvery likely invalid,\u201d conflicted with our cannabis commission\u2019s regulatory authority, and was made \u201cwithout consideration and in disregard of facts and circumstances from the public.\u201d The judge pointed out that the longer the ban remained in effect, the more patients would face undesirable choices, including switching to opioids, living with severe pain, or purchasing from the illicit market. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the cases and death count in Massachusetts continued to rise, as did the dangers associated with the illicit market. Soon after the ban took effect, police say a man trying to sell THC vape cartridges in a suburban Whole Foods parking lot <a href=\"https:\/\/whdh.com\/news\/police-man-held-teen-at-gunpoint-during-illegal-vape-pod-sale-at-melrose-whole-foods\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">started shooting<\/a> when his customers reportedly wouldn\u2019t pay. <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-this-is-why-we-regulate-instead-of-outlawing\">This is why we regulate, instead of outlawing<\/h2>\n<p>By the time our commission finally regained the authority to regulate marijuana products, in Nov. 2019, the CDC had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/tobacco\/basic_information\/e-cigarettes\/severe-lung-disease.html\">confirmed<\/a> that vitamin E acetate was the likely chemical culprit. We quickly put in place a temporary quarantine to ensure the contaminant wasn\u2019t present in any state-regulated cannabis vape products. <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-left\">\n<p>Not a single VAPI case was traced to a regulated cannabis product in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Licensed businesses we worked with were generally helpful and cooperative in the effort, which is more than I can say for the Baker administration. The Department of Public Health <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/shaleentitle\/status\/1219802527434145793?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ignored<\/a> our office\u2019s data requests for so long that the commission chairman and I eventually showed up to a public hearing to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/shaleentitle\/status\/1197941834124812289?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">beg<\/a> them to tell us whether any of the illnesses could be traced to regulated cannabis products. <\/p>\n<p>To the best of my knowledge, despite Massachusetts\u2019s unusually high incidence of vaping-related lung injuries, not a single case has been traced to a product sold on our regulated cannabis market.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-gov-baker-considers-harmful-ban-a-success\">Gov. Baker considers harmful ban a success<\/h2>\n<p>In the end, the ban ended six weeks early. But even as it was lifted, Baker remained steadfast. He <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/news\/2019\/12\/gov-charlie-baker-vaping-ban-accomplished-its-goals.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> he believed the policy had accomplished its objectives and was \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/commonwealthmagazine.org\/health\/baker-mystified-by-response-to-vaping-ban\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mystified<\/a>\u201d that no other states had followed suit.<\/p>\n<p>The governor and other supporters of the ban completely abandoned the purported goal of collecting information and discovering the root cause of the illness. Instead, they narrowed their focus to certain nicotine products that played no significant role in the vaping injury outbreak. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img width=\"1024\" height=\"334\" alt=\"Sickened lungs show up as cloudy on the left x-ray, and clear after treatment of one suspected VAPI patient in Utah. (Courtesy University of Utah)\" class=\"wp-image-114371 has-ll lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/during-the-evali-lung-crisis-my-state-banned-all-vapes-we-were-wrong.png,compress&w=550 550w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/during-the-evali-lung-crisis-my-state-banned-all-vapes-we-were-wrong.png,compress&w=740 740w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/during-the-evali-lung-crisis-my-state-banned-all-vapes-we-were-wrong.png,compress&w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/during-the-evali-lung-crisis-my-state-banned-all-vapes-we-were-wrong.png,compress&w=1480 1480w\"><figcaption>Certain vape additives are associated with lung injury, which shows up as cloudy on the left x-ray, and clear after treatment of one suspected VAPI patient in Utah. (Courtesy University of Utah)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"h-using-an-illicit-thc-vape-problem-to-outlaw-flavored-nicotine\">Using an illicit THC vape problem to outlaw flavored nicotine<\/h2>\n<p>In November 2019, Baker signed a bill into law banning the sale of all flavored tobacco products and held a press conference to laud the reform. Gone was any mention of the vape ban\u2019s initial goals of collecting data and understanding the sources of the outbreak.<\/p>\n<p>Sitting at the Department of Public Health\u2019s briefing on the new law, I was reminded of the Iraq war, where it eventually became clear that the goal all along had been to use an unrelated tragedy to accomplish a long-held wish for a pet policy. Mission accomplished?<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-this-ban-hurt-real-people\">This ban hurt real people<\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019m no JUUL apologist. I\u2019m a well-documented <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/tc\/2021\/04\/10\/perils-of-the-tipping-point-of-big-tobacco-2-0-taking-over-the-legal-cannabis-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">critic<\/a> of Big Tobacco, and my think tank <a href=\"http:\/\/patreon.com\/parabolacenter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Parabola Center<\/a> has written specific language to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.parabolacenter.com\/Parabola%20Center%20CAOA%20Comments%208-31-21.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">disqualify<\/a> corporations who harm public health and lie about it from participating in the national marijuana industry. My concerns are based on evidence. When leaders disregard evidence and take advantage of emergencies for their own political purposes, they hurt more than their own credibility. They harm public health. They hurt real people.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe there were good reasons to pass a ban on the sale of flavored nicotine. If so, we never heard them. Instead, evidence continues to demonstrate that our foolish ban led to bankrupt businesses, more illnesses, and unnecessary deaths.<\/p>\n<div id=\"author-box\" class=\"p-lg my-xxl bg-white rounded border border-light-grey elevation-low\">\n<div class=\"mb-lg\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/during-the-evali-lung-crisis-my-state-banned-all-vapes-we-were-wrong.jpg\" alt=\"Shaleen Title's Bio Image\" class=\"lazyload inline-block mr-md rounded-full border border-light-grey\"> <\/p>\n<p>Shaleen Title<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"text-sm\">Shaleen Title is a drug policy activist and attorney who previously served as a commissioner on the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. She is currently the Distinguished Cannabis Policy Practitioner in Residence at The Ohio State University\u2019s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center.<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"text-sm font-bold underline text-green\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/news\/author\/shaleen-title\">View Shaleen Title’s articles<\/a> <\/div>\n<div class=\"leafly-sailthru-signup p-lg my-xl bg-white rounded elevation-low border border-light-grey\">\n<p class=\"text-xs pt-lg\">By submitting this form, you will be subscribed to news and promotional emails from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\">Leafly<\/a> and you agree to Leafly’s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/tos\">Terms of Service<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>. You can unsubscribe from Leafly email messages anytime.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat --> <!--\nPerformance optimized by W3 Total Cache. Learn more: https:\/\/www.boldgrid.com\/w3-total-cache\/ Served from: _ @ 2021-10-21 15:00:13 by W3 Total Cache\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the EVALI lung crisis, my state banned all vapes. We were wrong. – Leafly Leafly Leafly \u00ae Loading\u2026 Where are you from? noyes Remember me for 30 days. I confirm that this is not a shared device. Darn! You’re not old enough to use Leafly. Redirecting you to By accessing this site, you accept the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Earlier this month, a federally-funded study on vaping-related lung injuries confirmed what experts have been saying for years: Legal, regulated cannabis is far safer and better for public health than products purchased in the illicit market. The new study examined… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marijuana_information"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/during-the-evali-lung-crisis-my-state-banned-all-vapes-we-were-wrong.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}