The parent company of the Juul (pictured), a vape pen for tobacco use, also manufactures a popular marijuana pen-and-pod device called the Pax Era. But tech-savvy teens are also learning how to refill their Juul pods with different blends, including marijuana oils. (Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
"By now, many parents know kids are vaping sweet-smelling tobacco — often using devices that look deceptively like pens or flash drives. And most parents are hip to the prevalence of underage marijuana use.
Now comes a combo of the two: vaping pot. Experts and educators say young people are — once again — one step ahead of the adults in their lives, experimenting with this new and more heady way to consume weed.
“It’s only a matter of time” before adolescents are vaping nicotine and pot in equal measure, said Mila Vascones-Gatski, a substance abuse counselor at Arlington Public Schools in Virginia. “Anything in liquid form can go into a vape, and that’s scary.”
Surveys provide a snapshot of the problem.
Among California high school students who have used an electronic smoking device, 27 percent said they used it with some form of cannabis, according to a report by the state Department of Public Health, based on 2016 data, the latest available.
Nationally, among high school seniors who reported using a vaping device in the past year, 11 percent said they had vaped cannabis, according to a 2017 survey by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the University of Michigan. More than half said they vaped “just flavoring” and about 33 percent said nicotine.
The California Department of Public Health says researchers do not fully understand how using cannabis oils and waxes with vapes affects health. What they do know is that vaporized cannabis can contain a lot more THC, the cannabis ingredient responsible for psychoactive effects such as anxiety and paranoia.
“When you make it into an oil or wax, the [THC] concentration can be very high,” Vascones-Gatski said. “This is when psychotic symptoms are intensified.”
Recreational marijuana use is illegal among children in all states. In California, such use was legalized for adults 21 and older beginning this year. Critics argue the change could make pot more accessible to young people, although researchers say it is too early to tell.
Meanwhile, as vaping becomes more popular and socially acceptable, more young people are bound to try pot in this form, said Stanton Glantz, professor of medicine and director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at University of California-San Francisco.
“You are starting to see the much more aggressive push for flavors” in the cannabis liquids, he said.
Some popular cannabis oil flavors include mint, jasmine, banana smoothie, pumpkin spice and gummy fish, according to industry sites.
Even if the cannabis industry says its target is not youth, there is no denying that fruity smells attract kids, Glantz said."
Source: Kaiser Health News