Fri | Jul 24, 2026

Marijuana vaping product sales sink amid lung disease scare

Published:Friday | September 27, 2019 | 12:00 AM
Pause
The Associated Press
In this photo taken on September 20, 2019, David Alport, owner of the Bridge City Collective marijuana dispensary in Portland, Oregon, goes over sales numbers with the store’s general manager, Cameron Moore. The company has seen a 31 per cent decrease in its sales of vaping products in the past two weeks.
The Associated Press
This photo shows a vape cartridge that’s on sale at the dispensary.
The Associated Press
In this photo taken Sept. 20, 2019, employees at the marijuana retailer Bridge City Collective in Portland, Ore., can be seen setting up the store for the day behind a row of marijuana products for sale there. Vaping products are taking a hit as health experts scramble to determine what’s causing a mysterious lung disease. Many patients say they used vapes containing marijuana oil, but some patients say they smoked nicotine-only vapes. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)
1
2
3

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP):

Vaping products, one of the fastest-growing segments of the legal marijuana industry, have taken a hit from consumers as public health experts scramble to determine what’s causing a mysterious and sometimes fatal lung disease among people who use e-cigarettes.

The ailment has sickened at least 530 people and killed nine. Some vaped nicotine, but many reported using oil containing THC, marijuana’s high-inducing ingredient, and said they bought products from pop-up shops and other illegal sellers. The only death linked to THC vapes bought at legal shops occurred in Oregon.

Amid the health scare, the amount of the legal pot industry’s revenue that comes from vape products has dropped by 15 per cent nationwide, with some states, including Oregon, seeing decreases of more than 60 per cent.

Health officials in California, home to the world’s largest legal marijuana marketplace, this week issued an advisory urging people to stop all forms of vaping until a cause is determined. Massachusetts, which like California allows so-called recreational use of marijuana by people 21 and older, went further than any other state, issuing a four-month ban on vape sales.

VAPING POPULARITY

Vaping THC is popular for those desiring quick high without the smoke that comes from lighting up joints. Marijuana companies are trying to boost the public’s confidence by promoting that their vaping products are tested by the government, demanding ingredient lists from their vendors and in some cases pulling items from shelves. Some are also scrambling to get liability insurance.

Still, many have seen notable declines in sales in the few weeks since the health scare emerged on a national scale.

“It’s having an impact on how consumers are behaving,” said David Alport, owner of Bridge City Collective in Portland, which in two weeks saw a 31 per cent drop in sales of vape cartridges that hold the oil that vaporises when heated. “People are concerned, and we’re concerned.”

In the United States’ booming legal cannabis market, vaping products have exploded in popularity. In roughly two years, they have grown from a small fraction of overall sales to about one-third, with $9.6 billion in sales between 2017 and 2019, according to New Frontier Data, an economic analysis firm that tracks the industry. About one-fifth of US cannabis consumers report using them.

New Frontier found a 15 per cent decline in the market share for vape sales nationwide during the first week of September and saw no rebound in data collected through September 18. At the state level, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Nevada and Montana all saw drops of one-third or more, while California fell by six per cent.