Warning over spice & ketamine-laced vapes being handed out to schoolchildren with three hospitalised in last week alone
COPS are investigating reports that a man has been handing out vapes laced with spice and ketamine to schoolchildren.
Lancashire Police say they are looking into the allegations after three pupils were reportedly hospitalised in Pendle Borough last week.
Spice is a nickname given to synthetic cannabinoids — lab-made drugs that were originally designed to mimic the effects of cannabis.
“We are aware of a post circulating on social media around alleged drug-dealing,” a police spokesperson said.
“We would like to reassure the public that we take all allegations of this nature seriously and we are looking into it.”
Since the allegations were made, criminal damage has been reported at a property in Colne, the Lancashire Telegraph reported.
Cops added: “We are also looking into a report of malicious communication and criminal damage at a property in Colne.
“Behaviour of this nature will not be tolerated by Lancashire Police and is also being looked into.”
In October, Wera Hobhouse MP led a House of Commons debate on spice-spiked vapes after the University of Bath’s Professor Chris Pudney tested 596 vapes confiscated from schools and found 16.6 per cent contained the so-called “zombie drug” spice.
Labour have vowed to continue the previous Conservative government’s efforts to quash efforts to market and sell vapes with little to no resistance by reviving the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
VAPE EPIDEMIC
It comes after disturbing reports that vapes were being used by kids as young as twelve in school – with one youngster left fighting for their life.
Five teens aged 14 to 16 were rushed to hospital in Eltham, south east London after puffing on a vape laced with the drug Spice last year.
One of the youngsters was put into an induced coma after the group suffered a reduced level of consciousness, vomiting and confusion.
All five teens are thought to have recovered since emergency services were called on January 29, the Mirror reported.
They had reportedly used a rechargeable vape pen containing blue liquid in a silver and black cartridge labelled Vaporesso.
Lab-made drug Spice was designed to mimic the effects of cannabis, but can have very different effects.
Symptoms include dizziness, breathing difficulties, chest pain, heart palpitations, seizures, temporary paralysis.
The drug has also been linked to paranoia, suicidal thoughts, psychosis and acute kidney injuries.
It has been nicknamed the “zombie drug”, with some of the poorest parts of Britain seeing streets littered with near-unconscious addicts.
Cops fear that Spice is now sweeping schools across the UK after reports of kids collapsing in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire and Wales.
We are aware of a post circulating on social media around alleged drug-dealing.
Spokesperson for Lancashire Police
E-cigarette liquid mixed with synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists — Spice’s official name —or SCRAs were spotted in Wales, according to Public Health Wales.
Pupils as young as 12 were found to be using Spice-laced vapes in Selby, North Yorkshire.
The latest data in Wales shows of the 196 samples of e-liquids that were tested last year, 75 contained SCRAs — more than a third.
All customers who had bought the e-liquids thought they were buying cannabis or CBD liquids, they said.
Professor Rick Lines, of Public Health Wales, said: “The increased risk of overdose from high potency drugs shouldn’t be underestimated.
“We are concerned that people may not be getting what they think they are getting, when they buy drugs online.
“Prescription drugs should only ever be obtained from a GP.
“The risk of fatal overdoses is high from some of the samples we receive, especially when substances are used by those who don’t realise the risks they pose or when they are using them in combination with other substances.”
What is Spice?
The synthetic cannabinoids collectively known as Spice are made up of a range of amphetamines and other laboratory-created chemicals that vary wildly from batch to batch.
Users smoke, drink or eat Spice, often in tea.
Before the ban on psychoactive substances in 2016, it was being sold either over the counter or online under a variety of brand names such as Annihilation and GoCaine.
It is highly addictive with withdrawal symptoms said to be worse than coming off crack or heroin.
Users can suffer vomiting, seizures, terrifying hallucinations and severe psychotic episodes after consuming the drug.
Spice appears particularly rife in Birmingham and Manchester, where a number of users have been hospitalised after taking the drug.
The substance is sometimes dubbed the “zombie drug” because of the effect it can have on users, who are often seen staggering around.
An ex-spice addict has described the sensation to Metro, saying: “You just feel brain dead half the time. They say people look like zombies, and that’s how it feels.”
The substance was declared unfit for human consumption by the very person who invented it.
Organic chemist John Huffmann accidentally created it in 2006 when searching for a new way of developing anti-inflammatory medication.
Two years later the substance began surfacing on websites, usually advertised as a form of incense or plant fertiliser.
The drug has been described as similar to cannabis but others have cited effects more like powerful hallucinogenics such as LSD.
An even more dangerous crystal form emerged in 2017, believed to be around 20 times more potent than the “usual” strain.