4 ms·

Mods- could we edit the title? Vitamin E is not a "THC additive"

• bitxbitxbitcoin 7y ago
  It's a vape juice additive and this problem only arose because of the prohibition.
  • heavyset_go 7y ago
    Depends on where marijuana products end up on the regulatory spectrum. Vitamin E acetate is added to thicken the THC + solvent solution, because to users, a thicker solution appears to mean that the THC is less diluted than it actually is. If marijuana products are regulated like supplements are today, there's really no reason why less than scrupulous vape cartridge manufacturers wouldn't do exactly what they're doing today. There's no regulatory oversight when it comes to supplements.
  • jachee 7y ago
    It's a black-market additive to make their watered down product appear genuine.
  • AmericanChopper 7y ago
    It’s an THC product additive, that’s not used in non-THC vape juices. The title is perfectly accurate, even if it could be a little more verbose. I know a lot of commenters here have a vested political interest in promoting marijuana and its derivative products as safe, but you can’t change the facts because of that.
    • MiroF 7y ago
      I believe the CDC also found it in illicit nicotine cartridges
      • AmericanChopper 7y ago
        The CDC have not found it in any nicotine cartridges. The CDC have also not found the substance in the lungs of any vape users who didn’t use THC products. There are also jurisdictions which have reported finding it in 100% of seized THC cartridges.
        • MiroF 7y ago
          It was found in carts that had THC and nicotine combined. That makes it about as much as a nicotine additive as a THC additive, if we are using the incredibly low standards of "found in coexistence with substance sometimes" as the definition of additive.
• Godel_unicode 7y ago
  Many products which contain THC have Vitamin E (acetate) added to them. I understand the desire to not have "THC" and "carcinogen" in the same headline, but the headline is factually accurate.
  • derefr 7y ago
    “Additive” is a word that implies that it performs some function in the product. (The technical jargon equivalent word being “excipient.”) The proper term for vitamin E acetate is “cutting agent.” Like talc in cocaine. Neither the original manufacturer nor the consumer wants it in there; it was effectively MITMed into the product. A very precise analogy: you wouldn’t call cyanide a “Tylenol additive”, right?
    • Godel_unicode 7y ago
      As others in the thread have pointed out, manufacturers of THC products who add it do so as a thickening agent. I would term that performing a function.
      • catalogia 7y ago
        Bakers who put alum in their bread as a whitening agent were "performing a function" with that alum, but it's still considered adulteration. The addition of Vitamin E Acetate to THC oil seems to be unambiguous adulteration.
      • hurricanetc 7y ago
        Just because people are saying it doesn’t make it true. It doesn’t even make sense as a thickening agent. It’s not more valuable if it’s thicker and it becomes more difficult to handle and to fill cartridges. It’s used to water down the product and sell more cartridges with the same amount of THC oil. The exact same thing cocaine dealers do with talc powder or some shady bars do watering down their bottles.
        • catalogia 7y ago
• kstrauser 7y ago
  That’s verbatim the title of the NPR article.
  • op00to 7y ago
    NPR can be wrong.
    • kstrauser 7y ago
      Sure, but a link to an article using the given title of that article is appropriate. The HN title isn’t claiming that thing; it’s a link to a publication saying that.