THC vapes spiked with spice rife in schools...

[Totallybannanas]

We have letters warning us that children have been hospitalised due to vaping unknown substances. Other schools all over our town have also had issues and children arrested for dealing or hospitalised. Tonight a 14 year old child from my son's school died from vaping THC spiked with spice and other substances. How can we stop this? I know we can educate our children and talk to them but these vapes are everywhere. The government have been too slow to react to this market.

I don't think I've ever heard cannabis users called violent and aggressive. Alcohol users on the other hand....

It's not true, the school have the police involved - A BOY DID NOT DIE

No, this is a bad take. Teenagers aren't stupid.

Quite a lot of teenagers are. And even ones who aren't can make very questionable decisions and be convinced of ridiculous things.

Children aren't buying weed vapes from corner shops (I assume) but they are getting hold of THC vapes. THC, no idea if synthetic or not but without the CBD in. According to talk to Frank (is their information accurate?) the CBD is likely to help balance out some of the depressive effects of the THC.

A local school had a child taken by ambulance and this has had some knock on effects with school policy trying to clamp down. (I don't want to go into specifics)

I was out at the weekend in a venue where people were vaping. I was aware that my driving was affected after just like it might have been in the good old days when the clubs were full of people smoking weed. I'm too old for dealing with the effects of passively inhaling THC vapour and goodness knows what else and dealing with feeling groggy and shit the next day!

Yes I've seen lots of aggression with weed smokers unfortunately. It's not always the cool 'mellow' drug many try to market it as

Weed is a psychotropic substance so can definitely have adverse mental effects including agitation and aggression. That said it does need to be legalised as do all street drugs. Then they can be taxed, regulated and controlled. Much better for supplier/producer countries too - there are international benefits.

My DH brother has cocaine and cannabis induced paranoia and is very violent. It is not unknown, but it is a rare occurrence. Alcohol and cocaine are the fighting drugs and becoming more and more wide spread. Dealers make a LOT more money off synthetic drugs than Cannabis/ Psychedelics as they are broadly non addictive and production/cultivation needs a lot of space, synthetics do not smell, give off huge heat output etc. We need to get the children away from the dealers and gangs at all costs thou, the price being paid in Huddersfield - Halifax - Rochdale is utterly horrendous.

It’s completely rife.
our school had vapes confiscated in school tested , and several were found to be spice. They are sold via snapchat from drug dealers who drop off in cars , and I personally know several families who’ve been horribly impacted. The children, if they’re not hospitalised , can become addicted, and young girls are being sexually exploited because they are caught up in a cycle where they owe vast amounts of money to these men, who threaten to break windows of their family homes etc if debts are not repayed.
It is terrifying, it’s real , the children are not always even aware of what they’re buying or why they’re suddenly addicted, and it’s happening day in day out.

Also I’d argue that we don’t need children to die to act. Whether someone died or not , the destruction that’s already happening is massive.

It’s already illegal. Fuck knows I don’t like the Tories either, but I’m not sure they are to blame for what drug dealers get up to.

This!!

Drug "education" in the UK is all about "drugs are bad don't do them" when in reality many people including children so try them and harm reduction conversations are significantly more helpful

What the hell happened to Spice? When I was a teen it just made you a bit sleepy and giggly.

And dealers absolutely do give away these products , particularly to vulnerable children like those who aren’t at school for whatever reason. It’s a very easy way of getting a child into instant debt and hooking them into county lines activities . And as for teenagers aren’t stupid , well the history of teenagers over time says that many make questionable / risky decisions at points. And the children targeted are not always 15/16 year olds. They are children as young as 10/11. Actual children.

Yes yes of course. But nobody hides drugs in corner shop vapes for unsuspecting children to smoke, for free.

Spice is a generic term using for artificial cannabinoids. So it's just lots of different chemicals with no consistency. The spice you used to be able to buy legally in head shops is very different to street spice now.

Is this what OP is talking about?

The rumour mill can go a bit over the top...

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/plymouth-headteachers-vape-warning-after-9176381

I was just coming to post the same, however there is a risk that one day a child will die. I don't know the answer though.

Yes thank god it was just rumour! However the head did send a email saying this is a national problem all over the country and the risk is very real. Some kids did get hospitalised a few months ago because of these THC vapes also other schools.
The thing is children who would probably never have started smoking are now vaping, it's cheaper and harder for parents to detect (no smell). This has opened these kids up to now trying other vapes such as THC which they think is basically weed. These are sold illegally on social media, even kids are selling them to kids in school. Again cheaper and no smell so hard to detect. These illegal vapes contain all sorts as obviously not regulated and its turns them into zombies I've actually seen the effect of it. It's horrible.

I suggest people watch this.

@MiltonNorthern I'm sure your motivations align with others on this thread - teens shouldn't take ANY drugs or vape? Vapes (pure) are 'probably' better than cigarettes based on what we know. But we don't have 70 years of vaping impact on lungs and health to actually know.

Teenagers aren't stupid but they actually are!! They only know what they think they know which isn't always informed by the best reliable and scientific sources. Fact!

Surely the overall message should be to not do it. I'm not in marketing and I don't know how best to position this to teenagers (and younger) but the sentiment stands.

So have you reported your original thread to Mumsnet HQ and asked them to edit it to make clear that no 14 year old had died? And the entire incident was rumour, sparked by one person posting false information online?

I think it is really important to clarify that, especially since you claimed a personal connection to the family.

How on earth did they manage to get this information so wrong then?

And now the OP has admitted it’s bollocks. What a surprise.

She may well have posted in good faith but yes, I think it is important not to just brush off the fact that it was not true, and have a think about why people make up stories like this.

Really? I’ve never seen it and I lived in Amsterdam for years.