Cannabis vaping products in Oregon can’t contain vitamin E acetate, state regulators now say.

The decision this week comes amid otherwise stymied state efforts to respond to the vaping-related lung illness epidemic that has swept the nation, with nearly 2,300 victims and 47 deaths, two of them in Oregon.

Federal health officials have said vitamin E acetate -- an oily substance used to thicken vape oils with THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana -- is the most prominent culprit they have to date about what might be causing the illness. That’s why the Oregon Liquor Control Commission decided to list the chemical as one of the substances banned from vape products.

Oregon health officials don’t yet know if marijuana products used by Oregon residents who contracted the lung illness contained vitamin E acetate. The samples investigators collected are in the Food and Drug Administration’s hands, the officials said.

Out of 18 victims in the state, at least 11 used either marijuana vape products exclusively or a mix of marijuana and nicotine vape products.

The state’s most prominent effort to protect the public from the vaping illness epidemic is on hold. A ban by Gov. Kate Brown on flavored nicotine and marijuana vape products has been halted in the Court of Appeals.

It’s unclear what practical effect the vitamin E acetate ban will have.

No vape oil manufacturers have ever submitted the chemical on their ingredient lists to the state, Oregon Liquor Control Commission spokesman Mark Pettinger said.

And the OLCC doesn’t have a lab where it can test whether products have vitamin E acetate if state officials were to suspect a manufacturer provided an incomplete list of ingredients, Pettinger said.

Oregon’s rules on what substances can be banned from marijuana vape products are broad. Vape oils containing a “poisonous or deleterious substance” that makes the product “injurious to health” may not be sold, for example, nor can any substance meant to dilute a marijuana product.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the investigation into what’s causing the lung illness epidemic is ongoing. It’s possible that multiple chemicals are causing or contributing to the illnesses, health investigators say.

-- Fedor Zarkhin

fzarkhin@oregonian.com

desk: 503-294-7674|cell: 971-373-2905|@fedorzarkhin

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