MEDICINE HAT, AB — The conversation around vaping has blown up around North America in recent months, raising concerns about fatal illnesses, and the number of youth who use the devices.
Roughly 500 Americans have gotten sick, with eight losing their lives.
A teenager in Ontario who’s now recovered was on life support.
All of these incidents were blamed on the use of electronic cigarettes.
Although there hasn’t been any reported vape related illnesses in Alberta or Medicine Hat, local and provincial agencies are working to educate people on vaping devices.
“What has been seen in many cases in the United States is people who are otherwise healthy, who end up in intensive care units, sometimes needing to be treated with medications like steroids and to be unfortunately requiring lots of medical intervention,” says Dr. Deena Hinshaw, medical officer of health for Alberta Health. “It is likely to be a chemical contaminant or a chemical compound, not something infectious.”
The news has prompted some local young people to re-consider vaping.
“I’ve thought about it, I thought about selling it,” says grade 11 student Kaiden Melton. “I don’t really see the point anymore but I’m trying to work on selling it.”
In addition, the Medicine Hat Public School Division (MHPSD) will be hosting ‘action committee’ meetings to brainstorm methods to educate students on vaping, and why they shouldn’t do it.
“We will build a framework about what we want addressed until the province produces something for us and embeds it into programs of study. That doesn’t preclude us from getting out ahead of it, or getting out with it,” says Mark Davidson, superintendent of MHSPD. “We’ll work as much as we can to get the message into all of our classrooms or as many of our classrooms as practical.”
MHSPD has plans to extend anti-vaping resources all the way to elementary school.
They’ll also be working closely with Alberta Health, which already has some vaping prevention programs in the works.
“There is a new pilot project that’s rolling out this year, it’s a game designed for students in grades four to seven to help the youth in those grades think about the consequences of vaping,” says Dr. Hinshaw. “To use different ways of presenting information that might be more engaging for them.”
Alberta Health hopes to target youth, because it holds firm that if someone didn’t smoke, they shouldn’t be vaping now.
The agency does agree vaping is an effective method of quiting smoking.
“Vaping has some benefits as smoking cessation, so those who are thinking about stopping smoking, there’s some evidence that vaping might be less harmful than smoking cigarettes,” says Dr. Hinshaw.
It’s a stance Health Canada also holds. According to the federal agencies website, vaping is less harmful than smoking, and there are short-term general health improvements if you someone completely switches from smoking to vaping.
Anne Peters smoked for 37 years, and says the switch improved her health ten-fold. She has no intention of quitting vaping, but does make sure she’s buying her products from a reliable source.
“If you’re going to vape, go to an exclusive vape shop,” says Peters. “Go where they know what they’re talking about, they’ve done their research, go talk to them. Don’t be going to the local gas station, don’t be buying from somebody on the street.”
According to Dr. Hinshaw, it’s wise to avoid questionable products.
“They have noted that there seems to be higher risk from products that are bought in illicit markets, however it’s not determined exactly if there’s one particular brand or particular retailer,” she says. “There seems to be many different sources at the moment.”
According to a local vape store, certain chemicals such as marijuana derivatives that have been emulsified with vitamin E acetate are the culprit.
The U.S Food and Drug Administration has advised against inhaling products containing those chemicals. The agency also recommends avoiding vaping THC oils or using any vaping devices bought outside of stores.
Dr. Hinshaw says illnesses have not been tied to one specific substance, as research is still being gathered.
“At the moment it’s not clear if there’s just one substance,” she says. “The investigation is still underway to try and determine exactly what the substance or substances are that are causing this.”
The Alberta government is taking steps to ensure vaping is safe. In the fall, it is conducting a review on the Alberta Tobacco and Smoking Reduction Act.
“That review is going to explore ways to better protect the health of Albertan’s,” says Dr. Hinshaw.
