Pubdate: Wed, 30 Apr 2014
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 2014 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/IuiAC7IZ
Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82
Author: John Keilman

VAPE PENS, HASH OIL A WORRISOME COMBINATION

Devices make it easier to for student to hide use of possibly more 
harmful marijuana derivative

Vape pens and hash oil sound like a match made in teenage stoner 
heaven. They let people consume marijuana so discreetly that some 
kids are supposedly doing it in the middle of class, with their 
teachers none the wiser.

That was the gist of a recent television report from Denver, 
epicenter of the ganja revolution, but the evidence was hardly 
ironclad. The story featured an interview with one student who 
claimed he saw others doing it, and a YouTube video of a 
college-looking guy allegedly taking classroom hits from a vape pen.

Still, there is no doubt that the combination presents a new and 
difficult challenge to parents who want to keep their kids weed-free. 
Vape pens are small and easy to hide, and when loaded with "hash oil" 
- -- a generic name for concentrated THC -- don't give off the telltale 
smoke and odor that has told generations of moms and dads that their 
kids are up to no good.

Vape pens, e-cigarettes and e-hookahs are different names for what is 
more or less the same thing: a device that heats a solution, 
typically infused with nicotine, to produce a vapor that can be 
inhaled. Smokers often use them to wean themselves off tobacco.

The gadgets are quickly growing in popularity among teens -- the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that use among 
high schoolers doubled in a year's time, to 10 percent -- which is 
worrisome enough when you're talking about nicotine. But the 
potential to re-purpose vape pens for illicit use is what really has 
parents and school officials concerned.

When Barrington District 220 administrators catch a student toting a 
vape pen, they send it to the police department so it can be tested 
for controlled substances (no positives yet, the police chief told 
me). Elmhurst's York High School did find a few students using 
THC-laden e-cigarettes, prompting disciplinary action against the 
kids and a warning letter to parents.

Some states that allow recreational or medical marijuana are having 
second thoughts about hash oil.

Dozens of Californians have gone to burn centers after their homemade 
concoctions, made with the volatile chemical butane, blew up in their 
faces, prompting a bill to ban the substance. Even supermellow 
Colorado has proposed limiting the amount of hash oil a person can have.

Illinois will allow hash oil when medical marijuana goes on sale, 
something that's expected to happen next year. One would expect some 
of that to be diverted to the illegal market if the experience of 
other states is any example. So when you pair that with the 
accelerating use of vape pens, just how worried should parents be?

The unsurprising and unsatisfying answer is that it's hard to say.

Emily Anne McDonald, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Tobacco 
Control, Research and Education in San Francisco, has done some 
preliminary work in this area, finding that young marijuana users in 
New York City like vape pens for their novelty and stealthiness. She 
is seeking a grant to do a much more extensive study in Colorado, 
looking at how vaping intersects with tobacco use and traditional 
marijuana smoking.

"We have a million questions at this point, and there are very few 
researchers looking into it," she said.

As for the health implications, the few scientific papers I could 
find on the subject found that vaporized THC is safe for medicinal 
use, preferable to inhaling smoke.

That's also the position of the Marijuana Policy Project's Chris 
Lindsey, who doesn't buy the argument that hash oil's high THC level 
makes it dangerous.

"If you don't have a concentrated form, you make up for it in 
volume," he said. "It's a bit of a red herring."

But Dr. Greg Teas, an addiction specialist at Alexian Brothers 
Behavioral Health Hospital, said the greater potency leads to a 
quicker and stronger intoxication, comparable, he said, to people 
snorting narcotic pain pills instead of taking them orally.

"From that perspective, it can only make more addicts over time," he said.

Like so much in the new marijuana landscape, it will probably take 
years before we have a good idea of how vape pens and hash oil affect 
teens, if they affect them much at all. About half of today's high 
school students use marijuana before graduation, according to the 
Monitoring the Future survey, so plenty of old-fashioned consumption 
is already going on.

The well-worn rules for parents still apply, Teas said. Keep an eye 
on your kid's friends, grades and attitude, and if there is a 
noticeable change, start asking hard questions.

Oh, and one more thing: If he seems to be spending a lot of time with 
a fancy pen in his mouth, you might want to check it out.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom