By Daniela Hernandez
As concerns about the health hazards of vaping mount, a market
for illicit cannabis-vaping products and the tools to create
counterfeits is thriving online, according to a review by The Wall
Street Journal and interviews with legal cannabis sellers and
testing labs.
On Instagram, users offer products ranging from cannabis oils to
vaping devices and packaging materials. On Amazon.com Inc.,
third-party sellers hawk empty packaging for vape products, and on
Facebook Inc.'s Marketplace, sellers offer vaping products
containing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the mind-altering
ingredient in cannabis.
These and other tech companies say they have policies against
any illegal or inappropriate sales and do remove offenders from
their sites. They say they invest in technology and people to
sleuth out illegitimate products.
Web sales of products used to make cannabis-containing vape
cartridges are legal under certain circumstances, but doctors and
industry experts warn about the potential health risks from buying
such items online, particularly those that end up being
counterfeit.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has
warned against buying products off the street.
These days, the street has morphed into a global digital
marketplace packed with materials used to manufacture cartridges,
also called pods, as well as filled cartridges themselves. This
marketplace is increasingly difficult for law enforcement and tech
companies to police because of the geographic distribution of
users, the number of posts promoting vaping wares and the use of
private accounts and messaging apps to sell illicit products,
according to licensed sellers and tech companies.
Vaping involves inhaling fumes from e-cigarettes or penlike
devices that heat cartridges filled with ingredients including
nicotine and THC. Health officials are investigating hundreds of
lung ailments and seven deaths linked to vaping in recent weeks.
They haven't identified the precise cause, but most of the patients
have reported vaping THC. Others say they have only vaped nicotine
products.
So far, the CDC has identified 530 confirmed or probable cases
of vaping-associated pulmonary illnesses. The Food and Drug
Administration Office of Criminal Investigations is conducting a
federal probe, which involves a look into the product-supply chain.
An FDA spokesman declined to say whether regulators were looking
specifically at online purveyors.
Several states, including California, Colorado and Washington,
allow licensed retailers to sell THC-containing products for
medical or recreational use. But such sales are a federal crime in
the U.S., and it is illegal to sell THC-containing products online
and to ship these across state lines or internationally.
Licensed THC products in states where sales are legal must go
through quality testing. Knockoffs may contain ingredients whose
impact is unclear, including pesticides and vitamin E acetate,
according to industry experts. Vitamin E acetate, a common additive
in lotions, is sometimes used as a filler in THC vape products, and
public-health officials have identified it as a potential culprit
behind the illnesses.
"We don't know what the exact ingredients are on the online,
unregulated sources," said University of Miami School of Nursing
and Health Studies epidemiologist Denise Vidot, who studies the
health effects of cannabis. People can use fillers that can be
harmful, she said.
Tests performed by California-based testing lab CannaSafe showed
that black-market THC cartridges -- those that don't adhere to any
state regulations -- in some cases contained more than 35% vitamin
E acetate and tested positive for pesticides, said Aaron Riley,
CannaSafe's president. None of the licensed brands tested contained
vitamin E acetate or exceeded California's limit for pesticides, he
said.
Empty packaging and vape pods, sold by the thousands, are
available on e-commerce platforms including Amazon and China-based
Alibaba and DHGate, according to an examination of the sites.
Black-market dealers can then fill these with home-brewed THC oils
whose ingredients haven't been tested, according to industry
officials and testing-lab operators.
"The resources to make it look like you have a legitimate
product are easier to get" thanks to the internet, said Vlad Valme
of Portland, Ore.-based Thompson Duke Industrial, which
manufactures vape-pod-filling machines.
Mr. Riley said he receives messages on Microsoft Corp.'s
LinkedIn offering packaging for THC vape pods and pens. Many
accounts list their location as China, a prominent source of
counterfeit cannabis-related goods, according to Mr. Riley and
other cannabis-industry experts. One such message dated April 12
reviewed by the Journal offered a vape kit that "can fit
Nicsalt/CBD/THC." Nicsalt refers to nicotine salts. CBD, or
cannabidiol, doesn't create a high, unlike THC.
"We encourage members to report any message they believe to be
inappropriate, illegal or in violation of our policies," said Madhu
Gupta, LinkedIn's director for product management. The company
doesn't monitor private messages, according to a LinkedIn
spokeswoman. LinkedIn's advertising policies prohibit ads related
to illegal or recreational drugs including e-cigarettes or vaping
products.
The LinkedIn user who offered Mr. Riley the vape kit had
multiple public posts and listed a location in China. Posts by
other users, also listing locations in China, uploaded photos
promoting THC and nicotine pods, plus links to vape pens sold
through DHGate and Alibaba, according to a review by the
Journal.
Alibaba has long banned the sale of nicotine and other
e-liquids, the company said in a statement. "When such prohibited
items are identified, the listings are taken down. The same goes
for listings which violate intellectual-property rights," the
statement said. The company took down listings featuring items that
promoted e-liquids and drug-smoking paraphernalia after the Journal
inquired about them.
DHGate didn't respond to requests for comment.
On Instagram, owned by Facebook, users hawk vape pens, empty and
filled vaped cartridges, diluting agents and so-called filling guns
that can be used to quickly fill cartridges with oils. Some sellers
offer world-wide shipping and link to off-platform websites where
illicit goods can be purchased, according to a review by the
Journal. Direct messaging is used to contact potential customers
and providers, according to interviews with licensed sellers who
have received offers via Instagram's messaging function.
Instagram's community guidelines prohibit users from "buying or
selling illegal or prescription drugs even if legal in [their]
region."
On Facebook, THC-containing vape pods and marijuana have been
offered through Marketplace, the social network's online flea
market. A recent listing by user Lean Gawd was labeled "Apple air
pods," but the photo featured vape cartridges. The seller, who
didn't respond to a request for comment via Facebook Messenger, had
10 listings as of Sept. 12 in locations throughout New York state.
All were labeled as technology products. One labeled "GoPro Hero 6"
displayed 13 canisters of different marijuana varieties; another
with three THC-containing pods was labeled "Xbox 1." GoPros are
portable video cameras. Xbox One is a gaming console.
Facebook took these products down after the Journal's
inquiry.
Facebook prohibits "attempts by individuals, manufacturers, and
retailers to purchase, sell, or trade non-medical drugs,
pharmaceutical drugs and marijuana," according to its community
standards. The curation of such content is an issue Facebook takes
seriously, though the efforts aren't perfect, a company spokeswoman
said.
The company recently prohibited the sale of alcohol and tobacco
products between private individuals through individual posts. In
Marketplace or shop sections of Facebook, users can't promote the
sale of vaporized delivery devices and e-cigarettes.
On Amazon.com, third-party sellers sell empty packaging in bulk
for vape pods. The boxes sometimes claim the cannabis contents are
"100% lab tested," are all natural and don't have fillers. Some are
labeled for medicinal use only. During the course of the Journal's
review, some products were taken off the site. Others remained but
were removed after the Journal flagged those listings.
Amazon doesn't allow "e-cigarettes or drug paraphernalia in our
store and our policy has been in place for many years," said an
Amazon spokesman. "We take action on those who violate our
policies, including removal of selling privileges and withholding
of funds." The company uses machine learning to keep prohibited
products off the platform, he said.
Portland, Ore.-based True Terpenes, which manufactures terpene
blends for cannabis products, said it has been trying to get Amazon
to take down copycat versions of its products. Terpenes are the
compounds that give cannabis strains their unique flavors. The
knockoffs, sold by several sellers, have similar packaging and use
some of the same product names as legitimate True Terpenes
products. Under the product name, some listings displayed a link
that says "by True Terpenes."
"These are not our products," said Ben Disinger, marketing
manager for True Terpenes, which doesn't sell on Amazon. "If it's
not sold by us, we can't verify what's inside them."
Amazon has removed the look-a-like items. A spokesman said the
company prohibits the sale of counterfeit products and investigates
claims thoroughly "including removing the item, permanently
removing the bad actor, pursuing legal action or working with law
enforcement as appropriate."
Fanfan Wang contributed to this article.
Write to Daniela Hernandez at daniela.hernandez@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 20, 2019 05:44 ET (09:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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