Devon & Cornwall Police working with Bath University to test for spice in vapes
Devon & Cornwall Police is one of six forces testing a new device invented by Professor Christopher Pudney at Bath University which rapidly tests vape fluids for the presence of Spice, a cheap to produce (by criminal gangs) but potent and potentially very harmful synthetic cannabinoid. Click the links below to the ITV News report to find out what his research has uncovered about the presence of Spice in vapes in schools.
Inspector Sarah Ronayne, Partnerships Inspector for Plymouth, told ITV News: "We have had reports in our area from public health and schools about young people becoming adversely affected from smoking vapes. When you smoke vapes from an unregulated source, or obtained from people that you don’t know, they could be laced with Spice which can have serious health implications.”
Watch the ITV report on ITVX (Wed 24 July 2024) here: https://www.itv.com/watch/news/childrens-vapes-being-spiked-with-spice-and-thc-and-ending-up-in-schools/30qnsh3
"We have been engaging with all the secondary schools in Plymouth to try and educate our young people about the dangers that are associated with smoking vapes. With the equipment from Professor Pudney we will now be able to test more widely and hopefully be able to gain a more accurate picture of the effects and impacts across Devon and Cornwall"
Spice when inhaled works very quickly and can lead to extreme anxiety, hallucinations, palpitations and even seizure, collapse and death. If you obtain or are offered vape fluid from anywhere other than a regulated source such as a store you literally have no idea what it contains, and it could seriously harm you. It is not worth the risk. If you start to feel unwell, or if you see someone else in trouble, don’t hesitate: get help from a responsible person immediately or call 999.
Read the ITV report, which covers other areas in the south west, here: https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2024-07-24/were-going-to-see-a-death-warning-as-vapes-spiked-with-spice-in-schools
More about the work that the Devon & Cornwall Police Child Centred Policing Team has been doing on secondary schools in Plymouth: https://news.devon-cornwall.police.uk/news-article/09db7d2c-bbe6-ee11-9d62-6045bdd24049
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