Up to one in four vapes confiscated in English secondary schools contain the synthetic cannabinoid ‘spice’, according to researchers from the University of Bath. While the drug was found in 13 per cent of overall samples, the proportion rose to a quarter in both London and Lancashire.
The research team analysed almost 2,000 e-cigarettes and e-liquids confiscated in 114 schools across seven regions, in a follow-up to a 2024 study that found vapes containing spice in three quarters of schools in the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and across London.
Spice-laced vape liquids are easy to buy online and actively promoted on social media, the researchers state – often ‘deceptively marketed’ as containing THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, rather than the cheaper and more dangerous spice. Analysis of TikTok, Instagram and Facebook over a three-month period found that the younger the platform’s demographic, the more likely the e-liquids being marketed as THC were to contain spice instead – 68 per cent for TikTok, compared to just 12 per cent on Facebook. Just over one per cent of the vapes confiscated in schools actually contained THC, compared to the 13 per cent containing spice.
The study is an ongoing collaborative project between the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Glasgow and Teeside, as well as University College London, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester Drug Analysis & Knowledge Exchange (MANDRAKE) and the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs (DSM) Foundation.
‘Spice e-liquids are trivially available on social media like TikTok and Instagram, with apparent drug dealing on these platforms,’ said study lead Professor Chris Pudney. ‘A simple search of social media platforms brings up hundreds of accounts selling this material, making them incredibly easy for young people to find. Young people think they’re buying a cannabis product but instead they’re being pushed a highly addictive, cheap drug with unpredictable and serious health effects, such as psychosis, seizures and heart problems.’
Despite the extent of the problem being made clear to the major social media companies, about 70 per cent of the accounts identified and tracked were ‘still online and easily accessible’, he added. ‘The response of these platforms appears insufficient to tackle this urgent issue. The Online Safety Act needs to be used to compel social media companies to find and remove the accounts selling these drugs to children. We are calling for Ofcom to be properly resourced and directed to open a specific enforcement programme dedicated to online drug sales.’
‘As we start another academic year, we’re very concerned that we’re going to see increased use – and increased harm from the use – of spice by teenagers, as a result of the ongoing visibility of vapes being sold as THC on their social media platforms,’ said DSM Foundation director Fiona Spargo-Mabbs. ‘This important research has clearly shown that until this is adequately addressed, young people will continue to be exposed to potentially significant risk from this potent substance, to an extent we haven’t seen before.’
Meanwhile, a separate study published in BMJ Mental Health found that people who use cannabis to ‘self-medicate’ are at more risk of side-effects like paranoia. ‘Reasons for first using cannabis may influence later use patterns and mental health outcomes,’ the researchers state. ‘Initiating cannabis use for self-medication is associated with higher average THC consumption, and increased anxiety, depression and paranoia.’ Asking people why they first used the drug may serve as a ‘cost-effective screening tool to identify those who could benefit from monitoring, support, or referral to intervention services’, the study concludes.
Are reasons for first using cannabis associated with subsequent cannabis consumption (standard THC units) and psychopathology? available here