CNN's front page on Christmas was covered in anti-vapor disinfo. Headline after headline crafted to scare people from cannabis, vapor, and the unregulated ("black") market. Clearly backed by the big pharmaceutical and big tobacco corporations, they look scary, but on close inspection, are propped up by flimsy non-scientific partisan studies (paid for by government agencies and programs), bad logic, and remnants from 1950's Reefer Madness. CNN knows almost nobody reads past the headlines. So let's cut away the fluff, translate what they gave us, read between the lines, and dispel the propaganda!
Analyzing "Vaping Black Market Hiding in Plain Sight"
"From the outside, the store is clearly marked. Inside, rows of colorful products are on display. As far as any average shopper on this street in California can tell, this is a legal cannabis shop. But it's not. There are still unlicensed and illegal stores operating openly - selling potentially dangerous THC vaping cartridges."
Translation: "Fear the free market. Anything unregulated is probably dangerous."
Reality: Regulation doesn't necessarily make something safe (or healthy). Tobacco cigarettes are regulated, after all. Also, isn't it interesting that we have trouble telling legal dispensaries apart from illegal dispensaries? Why is that, hmm? Could it be that they're identical, other than a signed piece of paper?
"Hoashi walks through a legal cannabis shop called Chronic Pain Releaf. It looks like a hip pharmacy, complete with exposed brick, and staffers they call budtenders. Throughout the visit he repeats his mantra: Buy legal."
Reality: Budtender is a term from Vancouver's cannabis culture. We've had dispensaries - and vaping lounges - for over 20 years here, all self-regulated, with no history of harming customers in any way, and in most cases taxpaying businesses that obey all city regulations (except the prohibition of cannabis). Then, the legalized monopoly comes along and makes everything we do even more illegal than before, lobbies the government to use the police to raid their free market competition, putting peaceful people in prison... and steals our terminology on top of it all. Why not, they took everything else!
'Buy legal'? Why? It's less safe than free market cannabis. My mantra? Buy illegal. Never, EVER support the legalized regime, a violent corporate monopoly backed by rich government insiders, and steered by deep state globalist agendas that seek to subjugate the people and free will.
I vowed on "legalization day" (October 17 2018) that I would never use legal cannabis. Despite using it daily to save my life, as does my wife, we've stuck to that promise. We even went without, a few times, when nothing but legal cannabis was available. We're that serious about it, and for good reason - we've been into the belly of the beast, and we completely understand the issue better than 999 people out of a thousand.
"..legal vape cartridges are safe. Every drop of cannabis, from the seed all the way to when it's consumed, is documented and reported to the state.."
Reality: Legalizing something does NOT make it safe. In many cases, it makes it much less safe.
"The current nationwide outbreak of vaping-related illnesses and deaths is underlining a need for transparency when it comes to the products consumers are buying."
Translation: "Be afraid! Remember the vaping crisis?! Government needs to regulate this stuff!"
Reality: Since when is it government's role to regulate consumer goods and protect people's health? Please, cite exactly where the US government (or any Western government) has the legal right to regulate goods. Where in the Constitution does the government get granted the duty of protecting the people from substances? I'll wait. You'll never find it, because it's not there. This is a symptom of oversized and out-of-control government run amok.
As for the vaping crisis... the culprit (Myclobutanil, a fungicide) has already been identified, but the government and CDC are pretending otherwise, dragging out the "crisis", which in a year has killed far less people than legal cigarettes kill EVERY HOUR. The hypocrisy is glaringly obvious! They want the public to believe it's cannabis, or perhaps the act of vaporization, to blame... when the facts (which they refuse to acknowledge) clearly show otherwise.
The truth about the 'Vaping Crisis'
It's Myclobutanil - not vaping - damaging lungs, killing people, & sparking a media frenzy witchhunt on everything from THC itself, to illegality, to the very act of vaporizing.
Myclobutanil is considered safe on foods eaten raw, but when heated, this fungicide produces Hydrogen Cyanide - a chemical that dissolves lung tissue.
Canada already went through this
When Canada's cannabis market began exploding in 2013, "Licensed Producer" insiders were given the green light to grow cannabis for patients. This is when we began seeing a massive increase in the occurrence of a strange lung illness in people smoking cannabis grown with Myclobutanil. In the LP's race for profits, they began using a substance that had no right being sprayed on a plant intended to be smoked or vapourized. At least a few, including a supposedly 100% organic grower (Organigram), were caught using Myclobutanil, and making patients seriously sick, some with permanent lung and nerve damage. Investigations and lawsuits are ongoing.
In 2019, the USA has a "vaping illness crisis"
This year, almost 30 people have died from "a mysterious lung illness" supposedly "related to vaping", as the use of vaped nicotine e-cigs like Juul spreads across the States, and cannabis use rises with legalization.
Vaporizing (heating a substance until it becomes a gas) - also known as 'vaping' - involves no smoke or combustion, and therefore fewer byproducts than burning it. When compared to smoking, vaporizing any given compound is always the safer and healthier choice. Nevertheless, the mainstream media have widely announced that it is vaping to blame for the "epidemic" of symptoms, which include coughing up mucus or blood, headaches, dizziness, weakness, paralysis, even coma or death.
But a few months ago, lab results showed that it's Hydrogen Cyanide (from Myclobutanil) causing this lung and nerve damage, not:
- vapourizing
- legality or illegality
- cannabis / cannabinoids / THC
The Solution
The solution, other than to avoid using 'vape carts' with unknown pre-mixed liquid ingredients, is to go 100% organic, COMPLETELY pesticide-, fungicide-, and fertilizer-free. Nothing but light, air, water, and soil is required to grow top shelf cannabis, which can be safely extracted and vaporized without fear of any harmful effects.
Myclobutanil, just like Neem, is NEVER to be used on tobacco, cannabis, or other plants intended to be smoked or vapourized!
Pointing to a vaping "crisis" - which has already been solved, and has killed less people than police tasers this year - as justification for further prohibition of extracts is insidious, corrupt to the core, and will result in far MORE misery!
"CNN obtained five THC cartridges from an illegal vape shop and had their contents tested. They all contained a variety of pesticides that exceed the legal amount."
Reality: Pesticides are one thing, but what about fungicides? Why didn't they test for Myclobutanil... a known culprit?!
Also, CNN are known liars, confirmed 100 times since last week, no question about it. For them to claim they tested 5 samples and all came up positive means literally nothing. What they're probably not saying is that they also tested dozens of other samples, and they all came up negative. Without a 3rd party (with some credibility behind them) to back it up, CNN's unsubstantiated "testing" is just a bogus fabricated nothingburger. And no, their single cartoonish infographic doesn't count as evidence of their claims.
Lastly, the bigger issue about pesticides (and other chemicals) is that legalized cannabis can contain DOZENS of chemical compounds, many of which have never been properly tested for safety. Just like legal tobacco cigarettes, legal cannabis is literally LOADED with toxic compounds, and the labs don't bother to test for them, because they're 100% legal. This is one reason why "tested" and "certified" cannabis (or anything) is not necessarily safe, and why totally organic is the way to go. If you can, grow it yourself.
"The CDC has identified vitamin E acetate as a chemical of concern, although officials have said there may be more than one cause. It is already being used less frequently than it was a few months ago, even in the illicit market. But they may be on to the next cutting agent."
Translation: "We announced vitamin E might be the culprit, and producers have stopped using it. Therefore, anyone running any tests isn't likely to find vitamin E. But trust us, that was definitely killing people. And now, maybe THC is being cut with other substances instead, so the public needs to continue to be afraid. Legal equals safe."
Reality: Their above statement is admission that legalized and regulated vape products WERE indeed killing people, since vitamin E has had to be removed from the legal and illicit markets.
In other words, legal does NOT equal safe!
"The CDC says that THC sold under the Dank Vapes brand have been the most commonly reported when it comes to THC-related lung injuries, though there is no single source linked to every case."
Reality: They put this near the end of the article. It shows that the "Vaping Crisis" wasn't really a national emergency, but something that could have been solved through education, and a localized crackdown of one particular producer. That's how it's done when somebody produces, say, tainted meat. The patients are diagnosed, the supply chain is investigated, the culprits are reformed and/or punished, and the market adjusts. There is no national meat ban being pushed on the front page of CNN.
It shows that there's an agenda at play behind the scenes - as there often is, when trillion-dollar industries are at stake.
"The FDA seized 44 websites selling cannabis extracts."
Reality: That certainly doesn't sound like it's becoming more legal... that sounds like it's becoming more prohibited. Those websites were probably keeping a lot of people alive. I feel very badly for the patients who are caught up in this, as they have no other source of their lifesaving medicine. Many will suffer and some will die. Prohibition is by far the most dangerous aspect of cannabis.
"When recreational cannabis came on the market in California almost two years ago, Pure Vape was eager to experience California's Green Rush. While the company took the necessary steps to become licensed under the new, tougher laws, not everyone has followed suit."
Translation: "We must protect the legal regime from competition they can't handle, and continue to crack down on the unlicensed cannabis market."
Reality: Why did "legalization" bring in "tougher laws" and longer prison terms? If legalization is actually about government control and higher taxes, why did Justin Trudeau campaign on a promise to completely legalize cannabis in Canada? Was he really threatening to crack down with tougher laws if we elected him? It sure didn't seem so at the time, and voters granted him 8 years at the helm in Canada based on this hot issue. But legalization is a lie, and now they're trying to re-write history and pretend this is what we wanted all along. All we wanted was decriminalization - the end of prohibition!
"Medical cannabis was legal in California for 20 years before any regulations came into place. The challenge became transitioning those companies to operate legally in the recreational market, which faced more regulations."
Reality: Why should recreational cannabis be subjected to stricter controls than medical cannabis? If there's a difference between the two, and regulation is really about safety of the product, then shouldn't patients receive the more-regulated cannabis?
The massive increase in regulation (across the board) in just the past 20 years is obvious in the above quote. 20 years ago, something given to keep cancer and MS patients alive was totally unregulated, and we had no vaping crisis. Now, government-produced weed for backyard parties has to be regulated, and somehow there's still a health crisis developing?
"The grace period is over, so we'll be cracking down even harder on illegal operators, but we are also trying to run a public education campaign to change consumer behavior."
Translation: Prepare for even MORE prohibition - and relentless propaganda to maintain public support for it.
"There are questions about whether bans on vaping products are the answer."
Translation: "We're considering banning cannabis extracts."
Reality: Way to slip that bombshell in at the end, wow. Extracts are medicine, period. Without extracts, all patients have access to is shitty flower, and weak edibles. They are literally forcing sick people onto the streets and back alleys to get their cannabis extracts! Unbelievable.
"The CDC has some advice: Don't vape THC-containing e-cigarettes, or vaping products, particularly from informal sources like friends, family, or in-person or online dealers."
Translation: "Don't vaporize THC."
Reality: THC is one of the most important medicinal components to cannabis. While CBD and the other cannabinoids have recently gained publicity as having various therapeutic effects, THC is vital for many applications, such as controlling severe pain, stopping seizures, and destroying cancer cells. Vapor is a safer way to get cannabinoids, including THC, than smoking it. Patients (and any other users) should be free to access cannabis in any way they want, including - no, especially - vaporizing it. An extract ban would be even more disastrous than the current level of draconian prohibition.
Another front-page article announced federal prohibition on tobacco and cannabis products to people under 21. Now those who are 18, 19, or 20 must either avoid cannabis and tobacco completely, or find them on the black market.
It mentions that 1 in 5 high-schoolers vaporizes nicotine, but doesn't bother to note that 1 in 5 Americans deaths is from smoking it. Stunning - and those stats are from the CDC's own mouth!
Yet another article in the wall of anti-vaping propaganda claims a study found longterm vaporizing of nicotine is linked to lung problems like asthma. The study is garbage, paid for by insiders in the tobacco industry, and full of ridiculous unscientific methods and analysis. Dr Sanjay Gupta even chimes in to remind the public how dangerous vapour is. CNN purposely obfuscates the matter further, by relaying it to the public in as convoluted a way as possible:
"The risk of developing respiratory disease was significantly associated with former and current e-cigarette users - and there was a stronger separate association with former and current smokers of cigarettes or other combustible tobacco, who either only smoked cigarettes or were users of both e-cigarettes and cigarettes."
Huh?
Maybe I've inhaled too much vapour, but that made almost no sense to me. Certainly, the media (which is supposedly tasked with keeping the public up-to-date with important research that affects their lives) could do a better job than that.
"Even these components that seem like they should be safe, we have no idea what they do once they're heated up, aerosolized and broken down into their byproducts, and what effect those have, especially when they're broken down into teeny tiny ultrafine particles that can go into deep parts of the lung."
Extremely alarmist wording! Cannabinoids cause no harm to the lung tissues, and if they did, CNN would have been all over that. There's no good research showing damage from THC, and certainly not anything that would be hospitalizing and killing people. They MUST be talking about other substances, like cutting agents, pesticides, and fungicides like Myclobutanil. But even so, vapor is always less dangerous than smoke, and there's absolutely no alarm or "crisis" about cigarette smoking, which kills half a million Americans every year.
"Teeny tiny ultrafine particles into deep parts of the lung"? It's disturbing that childish garbage like that sees print, let alone on the front page of the biggest news outlet in the country.
When trillions of dollars - and massive political / cultural shifts - hang in the balance, sweeping propaganda campaigns are used to control the narrative. I hope you've benefited from my translation and analysis of this major issue which shaped 2019, and will surely have a major impact on 2020.
DRutter
