OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Gov. Jay Inslee will announce an executive order on vaping amid an outbreak of breathing illnesses tied to it.
The governor's office said Thursday that he will make the announcement at 11 a.m. Friday in Seattle. It's unclear what the order will entail.
More than 800 cases of vaping-related illness have been reported nationwide, including 13 deaths. There have been seven confirmed cases in Washington state, according to the state department of health.
Over the summer, health officials in a few states began noticing reports of people developing severe breathing illnesses, with the lungs apparently reacting to a caustic substance. The only common factor in the illnesses was that the patients had all recently vaped.
As a national investigation started and broadened, reports have increased dramatically.
Most patients have said they vaped products containing THC, the ingredient that produces a high in marijuana. The investigation has been increasingly focused on products containing THC, with some attention on ingredients added to marijuana oil.
But some patients have said they vaped only nicotine. Currently, health officials are advising people not to use any vaping product until the cause is better understood.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Healthy Living: Growing concerns over vaping-related illnesses
According to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the rate of e-cigarette use among eighth, 10th and 12th graders continued to climb in 2019. In fact, it doubled from 2017 to 2019.