Warning Spice-laced vapes in schools is 'emerging threat' despite disposable ban

A fresh warning has been issued about schoolchildren using reusable vapes which are spiked with the synthetic drug Spice.

It comes as the government announced a ban on disposable vapes from next summer, to protect people’s health and the environment.

But experts are warning this ban does not go far enough, saying it “will not stop young people vaping”.

Professor Chris Pudney from Bath University has been testing vapes confiscated from schoolchildren around the UK.

He previously exclusively revealed to ITV News that it is now a “struggle” to find a school in England where vapes containing Spice were not present.

The professor is now calling for the bill to be amended to tackle the “emerging threat” of drug-laced vapes in schools.

He added: “We have found the synthetic drug Spice is present in three quarters of schools sampled across England. Spice is a very high-risk drug, found almost exclusively in prisons, where it is associated with nearly half of non-natural deaths.

“Our work shows that Spice-laced vapes are almost entirely found as liquids added to a refillable device.”

An ITV News investigation also found that vapes are being confiscated from kids as young as five in UK schools, with thousands of teachers warning they are causing significant issues in the classroom.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has put its support behind the ban on disposable vapes, but says it does not go far enough to protect young people.

In a joint statement, Professor David Strain and Dr Heather Grimbaldeston from the BMA described the UK as being in the midst of a “youth vaping epidemic”.

“Cheap disposable vapes are just one of the ways that these products are targeted at young people and a ban is long overdue,” they added.

But they said this ban alone “will not stop young people vaping” and called for a tougher stance from Government on vape flavours, packaging, advertising and marketing to make them “less attractive and available to children and young people”.

Wera Hobhouse, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, has been vocal on the issue in Parliament. She wants the government to do more, saying: “The number of children taking up vaping is deeply alarming and so I am in full support of these steps to ensure that young people are not able to or encouraged to buy vapes.

“While the move to ban disposable vapes is extremely welcome, we also need to look at addressing the troubling risks to children’s health due to refillable vapes.

“It’s clear more needs to be done to tackle the growing issue of young people smoking Spice through refillable vapes and protect them from a life of serious addiction and health complications.”

Last year, up to five million single-use vapes were estimated to be either littered or thrown away every week in the UK – almost four times as much as the previous year.

Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh described single-use vapes as "extremely wasteful" saying they "blight our towns and cities”.

She added: “That is why we are banning single-use vapes as we end this nation’s throwaway culture.

“This is the first step on the road to a circular economy, where we use resources for longer, reduce waste, accelerate the path to net zero and create thousands of jobs across the country.”

According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), England's vape usage had grown by more than 400% between 2012 and 2023, with 9.1% of Brits now buying and using the products.

Health Minister Andrew Gwynne said: “It’s deeply worrying that a quarter of 11-15-year-olds used a vape last year and we know disposables are the product of choice for the majority of kids vaping today.

“Banning disposable vapes will not only protect the environment but importantly reduce the appeal of vapes to children and keep them out of the hands of vulnerable young people.

“The government will also introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill – the biggest public health intervention in a generation – which will protect young people from becoming hooked on nicotine and pave the way for a smoke-free UK.”

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