One in six vapes confiscated from kids at school contains illegal 'zombie drug' Spice, study finds READ MORE: Vapes laced with Spice put five schoolchildren into hospital By Chris Pollard Published: 09:22, 25 July 2024 | Updated: 09:22, 25 July 2024 e-mail View comments One in six vapes confiscated from school children in England was found to be laced with 'zombie drug' Spice, a shocking new study has found. Testing hundreds of confiscated vaping devices from 38 schools revealed the alarming prevalence of the synthetic street drug, which can cause heart attacks and strokes. Police, schools and researchers believe the substance is being substituted into vapes which are sold as containing cannabis oil.
Professor Chris Pudney, from the University of Bath, conducted tests using the world’s first portable device that instantly detects synthetic drugs. Working with concerned schools and police forces, he tested 596 confiscated vapes and discovered spice at 28 out of 38 (74 per cent) of schools across London , the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire. One in six vapes confiscated from kids contained Spice, prompting warnings they could cause deaths in schools.
Pictured: Stock image of young people vaping Spice is a synthetic cannabinoid that can cause a range of serious side effects, including cardiac arrest About one in six (16.6 per cent) of the vapes contained spice, while roughly one in 100 (1.17 per cent) contained THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis.
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