Nannytechnology: Thanks for breaking my medical marijuana vape, Apple

Apple has decided without warning to remove all vape-related apps from the App Store, according to Axios. This decision is reportedly in response to a health crisis under investigation by the Center for Disease Control, in which 42 people have died in connection to vaping illicit nicotine and marijuana vape cartridges.   The move comes as a shock to those using the iOS platform to interface with any number of Bluetooth-connected vaporizers, as well as informational apps relating to vaping. The total number of apps that have now been removed from the App Store is approximately 180.Vaping-related illnesses are certainly a subject of legitimate concern. Evidence currently points toward black-market cartridges which use Vitamin E acetate as a cutting agent as the main culprit in these cases. But vaporization is also a primary route of use for millions of patients in the US, in which medical marijuana has legal programs, such as in my home state of Florida, where there are more than 250,000 card-carrying registered patients. That roster of card-holding patients includes me. Since June 2017, I’ve been a medical marijuana patient. I use CBD, and to a lesser extent, THC, to address General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), as well as neuropathy, which is a vestigial condition I have as a result of having previously suffered from Type 2 Diabetes. For me, CBD and THC are superior medications compared to using benzodiazepine-class psychiatric drugs like Xanax or Klonopin and SSRIs like Zoloft, which drastically affect my cognitive abilities and my general mood for the worse, among having other well-documented undesirable side effects.In Florida, patients have multiple routes of use they can choose from depending on their therapeutic requirements. These include oral, topical, and inhalation — the latter of which is done in the form of cannabis flower, or as a processed product in the form of oil or paste. Many medical marijuana patients choose to vaporize flower or oils and distillates because of the convenience, ease of use, more precise dosing, as well as immediate onset of effect. There exists a large number of devices on the market for vaporizing marijuana. Many of them are self-contained, with any level of complexity as to how they are controlled or configured. Simple “dumb” battery sticks with single (or no) buttons, for use with standardized disposable “510 eGo” cartridges, such as those manufactured by CCELL, which use wire and cotton or ceramic atomizing coils, are relatively common. But there are also more sophisticated devices that have USB and even Bluetooth interfaces to enable the patient to control heat settings, display lights, and update the firmware. The Bluetooth devices are accompanied by apps on the iOS and Android mobile platforms which can allow the patient to measure and monitor their usage, and, as is the case with PAX to identify the medication loaded into the device, and to understand its contents, such as the overall cannabinoid profile, the terpene mix, and other components. It also allows a user to validate the authenticity of the medication as well as testing and
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