Ohio medical marijuana companies ban two chemicals from vaping products

Ohio medical marijuana processors have voluntarily banned two substances from their products in the wake of a spate of vaping-related hospitalizations and deaths.

A group of Ohio medical marijuana processors recently identified two substances that they will no longer allow in their products, following nationwide reports of vaping-related hospitalizations and deaths.

Fifteen medical marijuana license holders, including 12 cannabis processors, voluntarily banned two chemicals: medium chain triglycerides (partially man-made fats used to reduce levels of cholesterol in the blood) and polyethylene glycol (a petroleum derivative compound made from the main ingredient in antifreeze that also can be found in skin creams and as a food additive).

The license holders include processors Buckeye Relief in northeastern Ohio and BeneLeaves Limited in Columbus, and dispensary Pure Ohio Wellness in Springfield.

Medical marijuana companies never used those chemicals anyway, but have pledged not to put them in any products in the future, said Thomas Rosenberger, associate director of the Ohio Medical Cannabis Cultivators Association.

In response to questions about the industry’s voluntary ban, an FDA spokesman referred The Dispatch to the agency’s website. [Read more at The Columbus Dispatch]