VAPES AND VIOLENCE

A LOCAL youth worker says young people in Cavan and Monaghan who use so-called ‘spice’ vapes are “playing Russian roulette” with their physical and mental health.

Patricia Boyle from Monaghan and Cavan Youth Substance Support (MaCYSS) made the comment to the Celt just as the HSE issued a national health warning about vapes containing synthetic cannabinoids.

The service manager said new versions of the illegal drugs coming to the market are even more potent, and can result in more severe side-effects including “unintentional overdosing” and psychosis.

Synthetic cannabinoids are fully artificial chemicals manufactured in labs to mimic the effects of herbal cannabis.

Ms Boyle said that young people can easily buy vapes, containing illegal drugs, over the counter in almost every village and town in Ireland.

Often sold under names like “spice” or “K2”, their chemical structures can change constantly and unpredictably.

A recent expert report also lists behavioural changes and violence as possible side effects from ingesting spice in vapes.

Patricia Boyle’s experience in MaCYSS concurs with the report’s findings as does that of Garda Superintendent for Cavan, Gavin O’Reilly.

“We have definitely seen an upward trend of violent behaviours in young people using vapes,” Ms Boyle told the Celt, “And when you add drink into the mix you see violence in street behaviour.”

Superintendent O’Reilly used to work in An Garda Síochána’s Youth Diversion Bureau and has experience in patterns of youth behaviour and offending.

“In general, we have concerns about the potency levels of some drugs in circulation in Cavan,” he said. “There is an increase in violent incidents involving young people, an increase in the frequency of incidents and an increase in substance use and abuse.

“Extreme violence is also on the increase,” Superintendent O’Reilly added, “and 100 per cent there is a link between the mental health episodes we are coming across and drug use.”

There has been a number of violent incidents involving young people in Cavan and Monaghan in recent months with a number of minors brought before the courts.

Separately, The Anglo-Celt previously reported on two incidents of children becoming ill after ingesting vapes at schools in Cavan and Monaghan.

Supt O’Reilly says gardaí in Cavan are operating a zero-tolerance approach to the problem and are utilising legislation at their disposal to prevent a “revolving door” of offending by young people.

“There are a number of young people in Cavan who have been placed into the care of HSE, a number in custody and a number before the courts,” he explained. “We can control some of this youth behaviour with controls on bail and, for example, curfews.”

Supt O’Reilly cited the example of one young man who was involved in violent offending recently and posed a risk to public safety. When he offended for a second time days later the young male was charged before the courts which, the Superintendent said, “had a sobering effect” on him.

“Once that happened, it triggered professional support and guidance for his family and put manners on him as well.

“We have a better handle on it, and we have options to utilise so that these young offenders do not turn into adults we cannot control later on.”

NORMALISED

Other side-effects of the synthetic cannabinoids include hallucinations, agitation, paranoia, catatonia, respiratory depression and cardiovascular and kidney failure.

Patricia Boyle and her colleagues are at the coalface of substance use and abuse in Cavan-Monaghan. She said the most worrying thing for professionals is how “normalised” vaping dangerous drugs is to young people.

“They do it at friends’ houses, nights out, the bus stop,” Ms Boyle said. She said serious problems arise because children do not know the potency of the latest brand they are inhaling.

“Young people don’t know what they are taking,” she told the Celt, “The spice they take this week is different from the spice they’ll try next week – there is no consistency in either the production or sale of these vapes.

“You do not know what you are going to get in terms of effects and consequences for use.”

Other additional risks with inhaling spice from a vape include choking or vomiting, falling and hypothermia as a result of falling asleep or becoming unconscious outside.

“We’ve had young people who collapsed and were brought to hospital and others who had to be brought to hospital because they suffered psychotic episodes,” she added.

EROSION

The youth worker also said parents of young people referred to MaCYSS report a whole gambit of health and social issues related to spice vapes including lack of concentration, weight loss, lack of sleep and agitation in their teenagers as well as school suspensions and money going missing from the house.

One local school reported that 80 per cent of its suspensions are related to vaping.

Problems are compounded for long-term users who develop a tolerance for the drugs and then experience withdrawal when they try to quit. “At the beginning two puffs a day are enough to get you high but in ten days’ time you need five puffs and within three months you could be smoking a €100 worth a week,” the manager said.

“Young people don’t see the gradual erosion over time, but their parents, school, siblings and friends do and that’s when they arrive with us.”