Oregon state officials are trying for the second time in a year to ban flavored THC vape oil products that contain non-cannabis additives to protect consumers from serious lung damage.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which regulates the state’s marijuana industry, announced the move at its June 18 meeting. A previous temporary ban, issued through an executive order by Governor Kate Brown in October, was overturned by a state appeals court after several businesses filed legal challenges.

Outbreak of Illnesses Prompted Ban

Both Governor Brown and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, or OLCC, cited a rash of vaping-related lung injuries in the fall of 2019 as the reason for the proposed bans on flavored THC vape oil containing non-cannabis additives.

The OLCC issued a statement after the meeting saying it was acting because “a number of Oregonians suffered from the outbreak of vaping-associated lung injury linked in part to inhalable cannabis products” and those type of injuries have been “tentatively linked to additives combined with cannabis oil.”

By the spring, 23 people had been diagnosed with a vaping-associated lung injury in Oregon and two of them died, the commission said.

The phenomenon was not unique to Oregon. Across the country, more than 2,800 people suffered the same kind of lung injuries, and 68 died, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said.

In most cases, federal health officials said, illicit vape oils with THC were involved, but in Oregon, at least five of the victims bought the products legally from retail shops, according to reporting by the Oregonian.

It is still unclear exactly what ingredient in the products caused the injuries, which has state officials across the country concerned, according to USA Today. Principal Deputy Director of the Centers for Disease Control Dr. Anne Schuchat told the newspaper the national outbreak had several states “trying to decide whether their oversight needs strengthening.”

What Are Flavored THC Vape Oil Additives?

THC is the psychoactive component of cannabis. One of the most popular ways to use it is to vape it, and THC manufacturers often mix it with certain additives either to change its consistency, dilute it or alter its flavor to make it more appealing to customers.

Some of the additives are derived from marijuana itself and considered safe. Those are not included in the ban proposed by the OLCC. Other additives, the bulk of them, are made with other chemical compounds and ingredients. One of the most controversial is vitamin E acetate. The Centers for Disease Control reported that 29 of the patients with vaping-related lung illness last fall were found to have vitamin E acetate residue in their lungs.

Vitamin E acetate, often used to dilute the THC concentration in vaping oils in order to make the THC go further, has already been banned in Colorado and Ohio, according to USA Today’s reporting.

In its move against THC flavored vape oil with additives, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission argued that “non-cannabis vaping additives are used in cannabis vaping products for a variety of purposes, including dilution, flavor, and effects … (but they) are not necessary to make a vape product work with vaping technology.”

Another point to note, the commission said, is that while some of the add-ins might be considered safe for human ingestion – that’s to say, to eat or drink them – there is no evidence they are safe for inhalation. Vitamin E acetate, for example, is safe when ingested as a vitamin supplement or applied to the skin, but when inhaled might interfere with lung function.