Illegal Drugs and E-Cigarettes

With around 2.6 million users across the UK, the popularity of e-cigarettes has increased substantially in recent years. A recent study by public health experts has revealed that an increasing amount of these users are modifying their devices to vape illegal substances like cannabis and heroin. Medical experts are now warning that this trend poses a serious public health risk.

Dr Matthew Blundell and colleagues at King’s College London surveyed 2500 people and 861 said that they currently or previously have used a vaping device. Out of this 861, 39% admitted to vaping illegal drugs. The most common illegal drug to be used in a vaping device is cannabis.

The research team who conducted the investigation revealed that the main reason behind this trend was that users thought it was safer as well as being more discrete:

“Increasing availability, use and acceptance of vaping devices, especially amongst teens and young adults, which may lead to greater use of recreational drugs by this route, thereby increasing overall drug exposure.

‘The ability to vape deodorised drugs, especially cannabis, more discreetly with no smell – known as ‘stealth vaping’ – makes drug use harder to detect and therefore prevent.”

Nick Hickmott, early intervention lead at Young Addaction said health concerns around tobacco may also have contributed to this growing trend:

“Young people don’t want to use tobacco due to the health risks, but do want to use cannabis. As such, vaping is increasing in popularity.”

About Randox Testing Services

As vaping continues to increase in popularity across the UK, this may become more of an issue. At Randox Testing Services we not only provide drug and alcohol testing but we also want to keep our followers informed of the latest trends.
For more information on our testing, education or training services please contact testingservices@randox.com.