Kris Krane, co-founder and president, 4Front Ventures
September 24, 2019
Legal weed makers largely don’t use harmful vape additive
As marijuana vaping-related illnesses continue to pile up across the country, players in the legal market are taking steps to reassure customers products are tested thoroughly and only contain natural cannabis substances. In an interview, Kris Krane, President of 4Front Ventures, which owns Worcester medical dispensary Mission Massachusetts, spoke about the issue and how the legal market is reacting.
What is vitamin E acetate?
It’s a thickening agent some producers use in their cannabis cartridges. From my understanding, it’s primarily done in the illicit market. There has been a little bit of evidence in one case out of Oregon, but by and large, this is one additive that’s used by illicit market products in order to make the quality of their oil look better to consumers and save money.
The quality of the oil is poorer, but it looks like something better.
How does this induce the health effects we’ve seen?
In my reading on this, it seems when vitamin E acetate is heated to a certain degree, it can cause lung irritation and degradation.
When it’s used in food or vitamin supplements and digested as it, it seems to be relatively harmless. But when it’s heated and inhaled, it seems to be particularly harmful.
What does the legal market do to avoid this?
There’s been a big move over the last few years of companies moving away from using any kind of cutting agent in oils and using more of the actual natural extracted oil. We’re maybe adding in some extracted natural terpenes from the cannabis plant or other plants and natural ingredients found in the plant itself.
In general, there's been a move from using any kind of cutting of thickening agents. Not just vitamin E acetate, but also propylene glycol. That was much more common a few years ago. The markets really called for purer oils in general. That’s why it really is more on an illegal market issue.
Does this hurt the industry’s goal to erase the stigma associated with cannabis?
If anything, it should only increase support for legalization. From a policy perspective, this is a great example of why it’s necessary. This hasn’t been an issue in the legal, regulated market. It’s an issue of prohibition, and illicit market actors trying to counterfeit products available legally people aren’t having issues with.
The small amount coming out of the legal market can be dealt with through effective regulation.
Should states begin testing for cutting agents like this?
It would be relatively easy to add it as a requirement. If you ban thickening agents, regulators would come in and inspect your facilities. If they find those materials, there could be huge fines, a loss of license or product recalls. There’s a huge financial incentive for companies to comply if regulators tell them not to do this.
This interview was conducted and edited for length and clarity by WBJ Staff Writer Zachary Comeau.
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