Just received this letter from the Met Police, via my son’s school:
‘As a Schools Team we have recently been made aware of vapes containing high levels of chemicals that have caused some children to lose consciousness resulting in hospitalisation.
The particular brand of vape that these children have been using is called a Cali Pen or Cali Bar but it is unlikely to be restricted to just these brands.
As you may be aware, vapes have not been tested medically to determine either short-term or long-term effects on the health of users. There are many products that are unregulated coming into the UK and being sold illegally to children. In other parts of London, some of these vapes have been found to contain dangerous and addictive drugs such as ‘spice’ and high levels of THC, the psychoactive chemical found in cannabis.
The effects of inhaling vapes are unpredictable and it can be very easy to accidentally take a large dose of an unknown chemical.
Selling any vape to a person under the age of 18 is illegal, although by their bright colours and names sounding like something you would purchase in a sweet shop, it is clear that these products are marketed at children. Sadly, the use of vapes by children is now becoming endemic and the majority of even regulated vapes contain high levels of nicotine ensuring that their users will become dependent upon them.
Please educate your children on the dangers of using vapes and the unknown short-term and long-term effects on their health.
If you are aware of any shops selling vapes to children, please contact your Local Authority Licensing Team who will investigate these allegations. Similarly, if you are aware of anyone advertising vapes that contain illegal drugs, please contact your local police team or report this via Crimestoppers
(please note that vapes containing CBD with a THC content of less than 0.2% are currently legal in the UK – but clearly not for children).’
Comments
Years spent working on helping people quit smoking, which was working, each generation having less smokers than the last, to then have this apparently safer alternative which has it's own issues instead of just encouraging quitting.
I mean, I know standards slip over time. But there's no way your son's school should allow the police to send out a message with a split infinitive.
out of my group there's lads that vape that never smoked which I find strange.
couple of guys in my office vape and they are constantly at it.
The issue is the complete dependence people have on these things. Where they'd keep cigarettes in their pocket/bag, they have their vape in hand at all times it seems. You see them walking down the street with it in hand, driving with it pinned to the steering wheel, the vape sitting on their desk the whole time they're not vaping. It's ridiculous and shows how much more they are vaping than they would ever have smoked, and probably not realising how much they are doing it because it's always in hand.
I wouldn't be surprised if more than half the kids who vape have never had a cigarette.
Really strange though I completely agree.
The battle against smoking was being won, with far fewer young people starting to smoke. We now have a new generation hooked on vaping.
When i quit it was when the only option was the "vape decks" where you had to put your own liquid in the atomiser, charge the battery etc. There was also a quite large up front cost of £35-50 for the "kit".
I believe the issue ultimately lies with the disposable vapes due to their ease of access, cheap price & the fact their now in every off licence, supermarket rather than specialist shops. That's before we even consider the enviromental impact of them.
Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul | Official Trailer | Netflix (youtube.com)
I used to smoke 40 a day. Stopped smoking started vaping which my doctor was very pleased about.
Since then I don't get out of breath when walking and my sense of taste and smell has improved.
Vaping is like anything else. If you buy and use good products then, in my experience, it's fine.
If you use cheap imports, from China especially, you run the risk of harmful and sometimes dangerous products.
Don't need to make them illegal, dont need to tax them, don't need any more interference or bans just for the rules to be enforced
I accept fruity and sweet flavours appear to be aimed at kids. A bit like rose, blue wkd, yeiger bombs, tequila rose. Just stop selling it to kids
I imagine it can only be age and we already have that law.