What do young people understand about synthetic cannabinoids in vapes?

Theme Mental health

Workstream Psychological interventions

Status: This project is ongoing

Synthetic cannabinoids (SCs), sometimes known as spice or K2, are illegal substances made in a lab and initially designed to copy the effects of the main active substance in cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

However, SCs are far more potent than cannabis. They are associated with a higher risk of:

  • Psychosis
  • Seizures
  • Withdrawal
  • Death

We don’t know much about the risks associated with different types of SCs or how they are used. However, they have been implicated in almost half of non-natural deaths in prisons in England and Wales, where they have been widely used partly because of being undetectable in mandatory drug testing.

A recent study tested vapes routinely collected by 27 schools in different parts of England and identified SCs in almost one in five samples. It is possible young people are using vapes containing SCs without knowing. They may believe the vapes contain cannabis instead. This is particularly concerning as about 6 per cent of 11-15 year olds report having used cannabis in the last year and about 20 per cent of 15 year olds report using vapes.

Project aims

During this project we want to:

  • Develop our understanding of how to minimise harm from SCs in young people who use vapes
  • Explore how a new SC point-of-care testing device can be used for harm reduction in schools and drug treatment services

We will do this by organising meetings with:

  • 13-17 year olds who have experience of vapes
  • Parents of young people who use vapes
  • School staff working with young people who use vapes
  • Staff working in young people’s drug services

What we hope to achieve

We will speak to our participants about:

  • Immediate actions that could be taken to reduce harm amongst young people using vapes
  • Developing a survey to understand young people’s vape purchasing behaviour and their knowledge of SCs (including the associated risks)
  • Developing an intervention for young people accessing drug services for support with vaping