Doctors have warned against the recreational use of e-cigarettes which contain cannabis as they damages the lungs plus worsen people’s respiratory conditions.
Dr Thira Woratanarat, associate professor of the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University, posted on his Fb page on Thurs about the danger associated with vaping cannabis essential oil, saying it may result in acute respiratory failure.
In 2019-2020, many teenagers in the United States were discovered to have suffered severe pneumonia from using such devices with the put extract inside.
Citing details provided by the US Centers for Disease Manage and Prevention, until 2020 some two, 807 people are registered as having developed such symptoms.
Research indicated a potential link among vitamin E acetate, used as an additive in some vaping products, and certain vape fluids that contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component in cannabis, Dr Thira said.
Although the leisure use of cannabis will be illegal in the US for people under 21, they have become more accessible as many states have recently legalised it. But experts say this high-THC cannabis items — vastly totally different from the joints smoked cigarettes in previous years and decades — are poisoning several heavy users, which includes teenagers.
Cannabis is not a dangerous narcotic like fentanyl but it can have harmful effects — specifically for young people whose brains are still developing.
Nowadays, many Thais prefer vaping cannabis as it is smokeless and odourless along with easy access online, in which the devices retail for about 3, 000 baht. They initially became popular among high-society teenagers, businessmen and some state officials.
According to one business operator in the Northern, these products must be ordered from overseas. There are two types — single-use and standard rechargeable versions that only require the oil to be replenished.
The Rural Physician Society has also indicated concern about edibles like cannabis-based chicken drumsticks.
“Children may start off with cannabis-based snack foods, but that would most likely tempt them to consider using a joint in the future, ” it said.