Black Market Vapes are Making People Sick

Unless you have been living deep off the grid you are aware that vaping is one of the most popular ways of consuming cannabis. Thought to be safer than smoking the old fashioned way, vaping has quickly captured the hearts of both medical and recreational cannabis users everywhere (I personally never go anywhere without my pen in my pocket). Unfortunately a new trend is sweeping the US, and it is making people very sick: black market vapes.

Black market vapes have recently been responsible for lung disease in 15 states, according to doctors. Recently 26 year old Dylan Nelson of Burlington, Wisconsin was hospitalized and put into a medically induced coma due to using a vape cartridge that was purchased on the black market. Thirty five such cases so far have been linked to black market vapes.

What are Black Market Vapes?

Simply put, black market vapes are cartridges that are purchased either online or at a dispensary. They are typically then emptied out, refilled, and sold on the black market. Like many things sold on the black market, these cartridges are filled with more dangerous chemicals than actual concentrates. 

The packaging looks pretty legit too. It comes from a company called “Dank Vapes” which is a company supposedly based out of California. The thing about Dank Vapes is that they actually went out of business years ago, but the empty packaging is still widely available on Amazon (I refuse to link it here, so as not to encourage people to buy them, but trust me when I say they’re there). People then buy up the packages and resell the cartridges on the black market, usually to teens and young adults. The packaging, which is bright, colorful, and often features cartoon characters is especially attractive to high school students, who of course cannot purchase items from dispensaries themselves.

Now that these black market vapes are all over the news, one would hope that Amazon will do the right thing and remove these products from their store. I would strongly suggest contacting them and urging them to do so, as I am about to do. Lastly, stick with the legal, regulated products! A good way to be sure of the contents of your vape is to control them yourself. The easiest way to do this is by using a dry herb vaporizer. 

Source: NBC News/wrex.com

Image Source: internationalhighlife.com

Has anyone you know become sick from using these cartridges? Got anything else to add? Tell us in the comments!