There's added urgency to the debate over vaping in Massachusetts after the state reported its first death: a woman in her 60s, from a lung illness apparently related to vaping nicotine.

News of the death came just days after Gov. Charlie Baker enacted a four-month ban on all vaping products, though that hasn't stopped Massachusetts residents from traveling over the border to stock up on vaping supplies in New Hampshire.

But at least some public health researchers say politicians like Baker are focusing on the wrong issue. WBUR's Morning Edition spoke to Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor at Boston University's School of Public Health. He's also worked as a tobacco control expert at the Centers for Disease Control. Siegel says Massachusetts health officials need to clarify the risks of vaping — or risk having people ignore it.

Here are excerpts of the interview, lightly edited for clarity.

Interview Highlights

On the cause of vaping-related illnesses

I think that in public health, we have to look at the overall data. And what the overall data tells us is in Massachusetts, of 10 confirmed cases [of vaping-related illnesses], nine [people] were reported to have admitted to using THC oils. [THC is the psychoactive component in cannabis.] The pattern that we're seeing repeatedly across all the states is that these are predominantly people who have used products off the black market.

On why officials should differentiate between vaping THC and nicotine

I think that the message that's going out to the public is that "vaping is bad, everybody just needs to stop vaping." And I think that when you give out really vague messages, the public doesn't respond to that. People need to know specifically what to avoid. It would be like if we had an outbreak of contaminated lettuce and the health department put out a warning saying, "Do not eat any vegetables." That's not helpful.

On whether the state should have waited to ban vaping products

So, I think that this is a very important principle in public health: when there is reasonable evidence that something is causing a disease, we take action at that point. And I think that right now, we have not only reasonable but very strong evidence that black market vaping products are responsible for this. And to try to lump nicotine products that are being sold by stores into that mix is very deceptive. And it really, I think, undermines the important message that the public needs to be getting, which is to avoid black market products, especially [those with] THC.