WAKING up in a hospital bed, 19-year-old Ben immediately reached for his vape – unaware the device had very nearly cost him his life.
The teenager, from Wales, suffered three seizures, was left in a coma and “almost died” after collapsing at home, with doctors later finding he had been spiked with the dangerous drug Spice.
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Ben is one of a growing number of young people who have become addicted to illegal vape pens containing THC – a compound found in cannabis – after being lured in by special offers on social media apps like Snapchat.
The growing demand has given way to unscrupulous dealers cutting corners by lacing the products with cheaper drugs like Spice, leading to the horrifying trend of ‘zombie vapes’, which this week saw five teenagers rushed to hospital.
Speaking in the new BBC3 documentary, Drugs Map of Britain, Ben reveals how he hid his addiction from family and friends, as one headteacher warns we are “sleepwalking into a major epidemic”.
Ben says in the film: “I remember the first thing when I woke up in ICU, I was asking for my vape because obviously I was so addicted.
“But I did not think that the vape done this to me.”
The teenager explains how he “never really smoked cannabis”, but was drawn to the vapes as he could smoke them without his parents even knowing.
He says: “I’d order it to the house through Snapchat. At the time, I smoked it so much I had to smoke it just to myself.”
After his usual supply ran out, he tried “stuff that was a lot stronger” and made him “feel constantly as high as a kite. I didn’t know what day it was.”
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But Ben recalls how one day, his dad, Kevin, came home from work to find his son “choking on his own sick”.
After being rushed to hospital, blood tests revealed Ben had Spice in his system.
The highly addictive substance is sometimes dubbed the “zombie drug” because of the effect it can have on users, who are often seen staggering around.
Ben adds: “If my parents didn’t come home when they did, I wouldn’t be here now.”
Horror hospital dash
The young lad’s candid account comes weeks after five teenagers were rushed to hospital after using a dodgy vape, with one fighting for their life in a coma.
Police were called out to a school in Eltham, south east London, after several youngsters reported feeling unwell.
One had to be placed in an induced coma and “was later revived and recovered”, according to the Met Police.
Tests revealed the vape believed to have been involved contained Spice and not Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
And this is not an isolated case, with similar incidents reported in other parts of the country, including Greater Manchester, as well as London.
A Met spokesperson added: “In recent weeks, four vapes have been sent for testing and all were found to contain the drug spice rather than THC. This included one of the vapes recovered after an incident in Eltham.”
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What are the health risks of ‘Spice’?
Many people experience unpleasant and unpredictable effects and health risks after taking synthetic cannabinoids.
These include:
- inability to move
- dizziness
- breathing difficulties
- chest pain
- heart palpitations
- seizures
- extreme anxiety
- paranoia
- suicidal thoughts
- psychosis
- gastrointestinal issues – like vomiting or diarrhoea
- acute kidney injury
Source: The NHS
In the documentary, a former drug dealer admits he knew the vape juice he sold to school kids was spiked with Spice – and shockingly reveals one customer even “threw up blood.”
But he insists he “doesn’t give a s***” and it’s their job to do their own “due diligence”.
Former THC vape dealer Ricky, whose identity has been protected, says: “Spice has pretty bad side effects. But at the time, I didn’t really care.
“It’s someone else’s job to do their own research, their own due diligence before coming and buying something and inhaling it repeatedly.
“It’s not my problem. There were a few girls who would throw up in class. There was a guy that threw up some blood. But who gives a s***.”
And he defiantly insists: “Worse things happen. And you take that responsibility when you’re buying dodgy things from dodgy people, doing dodgy things with them.
“It’s not up to me. It’s just business.”
If we keep silent about it, then we’re guilty of allowing young people of sleepwalking into a major pandemic
Headteacher Tony McCabe
Headteacher Tony McCabe says in the documentary that the vape sensor in toilets at his school “went off 112 times” in one day.
The alarm was installed at St Joseph’s High School in Horwich, Bolton, after several incidents in which students were found vaping THC liquid containing Spice.
He says: “There was a young person who passed out in a toilet cubicle. They were unresponsive and we had to call an ambulance.”
He adds: “My honest thoughts that night were that the child was very close to death.”
Tony continues: “The number of e-cigarettes in the local community that actually contain THC is alarming.
“If we keep silent about it, then we’re guilty of allowing young people of sleepwalking into a major epidemic.”
Lured by ‘giveaways’
Less obvious than smoking cannabis, THC vapes can be easy to buy on social media sites like Snapchat, with youngsters lured in by special offers.
One user says in the film he buys his from messaging platform Telegram, where he says there are lots “giveaways and competitions”.
Former dealer Ricky reveals he was 15 when he started selling, by buying products that claimed to contain THC but really contained the much cheaper drug, Spice.
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A legal high up until 2016, Spice is now a Class B drug, but has been branded worse than Class A drugs like heroin.
Ricky says: “I was 15 when I realised that I could buy THC vape liquid really cheap and sell it at a crazy mark-up.
“I could make a f*** ton of money. It was mostly word of mouth. We had a Snapchat that was quite successful. Two thousand views on a good day. It felt entrepreneurial, almost.
“And everybody wanted them. At that age people don’t want to have weed on them in case they get stopped. You could use it in school anytime you wanted. Playgrounds, different lessons.”
Asked what was in them, he said: “It was Spice in these THC vapes. Actual THC is really expensive so it wouldn’t be anything else.”
Ben’s dad kept a photo diary from his two weeks in hospital to act as “a warning” to his son.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
The youngster still has panic attacks from the event and sees a counsellor, but counts himself lucky to be alive.
Drugs Map of Britain is available on BBC iPlayer
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