Earlier this year parents in London received letters from police officers warning them that drug-laced e-cigarettes were being distributed through social media apps such as Snapchat.
“Vaping Spice is dangerous, especially for young people,” the letter warns. “In some cases, one use can be fatal.”
This follows an incident at a school in Eltham, south-east London, where several pupils were hospitalised after using e-cigarettes which were later found to contain Spice, with one victim falling into a coma.
The Public Health Agency (PHA) has also highlighted the dangers of Spice e-cigarettes and advised anyone who becomes unwell after consuming the drug, or their guardians, to seek medical attention immediately.
Michael Owen, PHA's head of drugs and alcohol, said: “The risks of substance abuse are particularly dangerous for young people. The teenage years are a crucial time for healthy cognitive functioning in adulthood, so maintaining healthy behaviour during this time is important. Substance abuse not only affects brain function in the short term, but can also impede proper growth and development later in life.”
“Substance abuse affects teenagers' developing brains by disrupting neurotransmitters and damaging connections in the brain, causing problems with memory and emotional development, causing missed opportunities during periods of heightened learning, instilling expectations in brain circuits that lead to unhealthy habits, and reducing the ability to experience pleasure.”
Allison was so concerned about her son's experiences that she now requires him to undergo regular drug testing and counselling.
“The intensity of the consequences and the fact that he was doing it alone in his room prompted me to take immediate action. It was not a social thing,” she says.
Spice isn't a single chemical compound, but the name given to a diverse group of drugs called synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs). These lab-made chemicals were first developed by pharmaceutical companies as potential treatments in the 1970s, but were shelved after they made test subjects sick.
Illegal drug manufacturers took advantage of public domain patents and began manufacturing these drugs. These drugs became popular in prisons because they are easy to carry and do not show up in regular drug tests. It is now believed that these drugs are mainly manufactured in clandestine laboratories in China and India. And as the manufacturing process has been tweaked and changed over time, the drugs have become more unpredictable and harmful.
Spices are typically smoked by spraying them onto dried plants, or they can be mixed with e-liquid.
David Nutt is Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London.
“These are chemically manufactured drugs that were originally designed to mimic THC, but they're far worse than THC,” he explains. “They're more potent than THC, and they were originally too toxic and nasty for humans. When they got into prisons, it caused havoc. People were getting very ill, often having heart attacks and strokes, because the Spice molecule that's in use today is probably the only drug in history that's been used by humans without being tested on animals.”
He added that spice currently being sold to children and teenagers is dangerously toxic.
“Originally, SCRAs worked similarly to cannabis. But now we don't really know how they work. Addiction caused by SCRAs has built up. Each time they are banned, the formulations are improved. The types currently in use are classified as 'third generation.' We don't know if SCRAs work the same way as cannabis. It doesn't seem to work, because cannabis doesn't cause seizures. SCRAs are just molecules that people manufacture and sell.”
Under UK law, it is illegal to sell e-cigarette products that contain nicotine to anyone under the age of 18. Cannabis is a Class B drug and its possession, supply and manufacture are illegal. Synthetic cannabis such as Spice is also classed as a Class B drug.
