Urgent warning to parents after 3 kids collapse using vapes as boy, 12, arrested
Three schoolchildren were left seriously ill after using vapes that were believed to be laced with class B drugs, with one of the kids taken to hospital.
A 12-year-old boy was arrested, and a warning has been sent out to schools across Gwent in Wales asking teachers and other staff to be vigilant, as well as alerting parents to the dangerous incidents. The boy was arrested on suspicion of supplying class B drugs in connection to one of the incidents, which the force said left a 13-year-old girl hospitalised.
Schools in Monmouthshire, Newport, Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent, and Caerphilly received advice on what to do in the event of pupils smoking illegal substances. A letter was sent to schools in Newport from the Newport Education Safeguarding department on Friday.
A teenage girl was hospitalised after taking a vape (Alamy/PA)According to WalesOnline, it reads: "We have had two separate cases involving three children who have used a vape and become unwell. It is thought the vape may contain an illicit drug or toxin as when inhaled the children have become unwell and collapsed.
"At this time affected children are in the Caerphilly and Torfaen areas of Gwent. Please be cautious of similar reported cases, treating symptoms as required, reporting cases to the police and social services."
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It has been confirmed by Gwent Police that a 12-year-old boy is in custody. A spokeswoman said: “We received a report of a medical emergency in Incline Road, Abersychan, Pontypool at around 9.45am on Wednesday, December 6.
"A 13-year-old girl from Blaenavon was taken to hospital for treatment and released later that day. A 12-year-old boy, from Pontypool, has been arrested on suspicion of supplying a class B drug. He remains in police custody at this time.”
Public Health Wales has called for a ban on disposable vapes to help fight the use of e-cigarettes by young people. The service said disposables were "very strongly associated with rises in vaping among children and young people", and also said there was a knock-on environmental impact connected with their use.
This latest case comes in the wake of a warning by a headteacher that illegal vaping could kill a child. It followed a 12-year-old pupil collapsing after using a vape laced with illegal synthetic drug Spice.
Glyn Potts, head of Saint John Henry Newman Catholic College in Oldham, told the BBC last month he feared it would take a tragedy before action was taken to stop children vaping. High levels of psychoactive cannabis oil and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) have also been found in vapes in the area.
Dame Rachel de Souza, Children's Commissioner for England, said it was "deeply shocking to hear of children collapsing from Spice contained in vapes", adding that she has previously called for the ban of disposable vapes.
She said: "We need to be moving faster on this issue, or we risk it spiralling out of control. We urgently need tighter restrictions on advertising and flavours of vapes that appeal to children as well as stricter licensing for retailers selling vapes."
It is illegal to sell e-cigarettes to people aged under 18, but a recent survey found one in five teenagers in England had tried vaping, up by a third on the previous year.
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