Schools issue vape warning to pupils' parents

SOME VAPES 'MAY CONTAIN TOXIC SUBSTANCES'

- KATIE TIMMS, KATIE OBORN

A NUMBER of Plymouth secondary schools have joined together to warn parents about a spike in pupils vaping - including raising concern that some students may be using vapes containing psychoactive drugs.

The letter was sent out after a citywide meeting of all secondary heads across Plymouth sharing a 'collective concern, amid reports of recent spikes in incidents involving student vaping.

It is not only vaping which is a concern, but that some students are using vapes containing a Tetrahydrocannabinol known as THC.

THC is a synthetic drug that contains the psychoactive compounds which occur naturally in cannabis, but is far stronger, and is also used as a medicinal compound used to treat chemotherapy-induced nausea.

Leigh Withers, principal Academy at Marine Plymouth, was one of the headteachers who was part of the meeting and said: "Collectively, we all agreed that it was in the best interests of the children in Plymouth that all schools acted together to provide one unified voice on this issue"