I find the headline a bit misleading. The empty cartridges from China aren't the source of the problem. It's what they're being filled with here in the US.
I agree with this relative to unsafe cutting agents going into what appears to be, more often than not, bootleg product (manufactured in a "lab" that is not compliant with testing and purity regulations).
On the other hand, I disagree with respect to other parts of the supply chain. Technically the counterfeit carts and packaging are enablers, that have also been proven to contain various contaminants due to shoddy manufacturing. Unfortunately, if they aren't made in China, someone will make them somewhere else as long as there is a demand. So I'm not calling it a China problem or an import problem. Just that these things exist.
The two big take-aways for me from the OP link were:
1. On the supply side, this problem is much bigger than most news reports suggest. The health crisis is certain to get worse before it gets better. I think we're just seeing the start of it.
2. The demand side is just as big an influence. It's not just limited to covert drug users sourcing cheaper product with these tainted, bootleg products. Even in the mainstream nic-only products, users will overlook sketchy products for a cheaper price. To be fair, the latter is obviously much less dangerous (without the THC or vitamin E oil), but they're out there and people will keep scooping them up to get a deal. I'm not judging, but it's an unfortunate fact.
Ultimately I think the
vape industry is a victim of its own success. Up until the latest pod systems came out,
vaping had a substantial learning curve and fiddle factor to make it work. Usually only hard to quit smokers would ever waste the time and money. Now it's in a package that's easy as a cigarette. Tear it out of the wrapper and you're good to go. It really wasn't a huge leap for some entrepreneurs to figure out ways to exploit that outside of the mainstream intended use.
Twilight zone.
