What We Can Do to Fight the Insidious Threat of 'Zombie Vapes'

Exposing the toxic brew in Kpods—and its devastating effects—is necessary to debunk the narrative that vaping is harmless and socially acceptable.

- Teo Yik Ying

IS SINGAPORE LOSING CONTROL OF DRUG-LACED VAPES?

A frightening new vaping threat is on Singapore's doorstep. Under its influence, teenagers have been filmed stumbling, slurring their words, and behaving like the walking dead. The loss of control—including seizures and psychotic episodes—has unsurprisingly led to the vapes acquiring names such as "space oil" and "zombie vape."

What's worrying is that zombie vapes pose a threat not just to the health of users—so deadly that it has the potential to kill—but is also a challenge to the regulatory grip over emerging drug trends.

While laws could be toughened and enforcement stepped up, these won't suffice without dealing with the insidious nature of the threat we are facing.

Specifically, unless the messaging challenge is tackled, we could lose the fight to the broad narrative that vaping is socially acceptable and harmless, an image that has propelled its popularity among young children, who are drawn by its sleek, candy-flavoured packaging.

A key part of the battle is to reveal what users are getting with their purchases of "Kpods" being peddled on Telegram and trafficked by transnational crime syndicates, and what damage these chemicals can do.

SPASMS, SEIZURES AND DAMAGED LUNGS

Consider first etomidate. It is used in hospitals for inducing sedation during medical procedures. In Singapore, it is classified as a poison under the Poisons Act and strictly restricted to licensed medical professionals only.

Designed to be injected directly into the veins under clinical supervision, etomidate is never intended to be inhaled directly into the lungs. When vaped, etomidate bypasses these safeguards and enters the lungs directly, potentially triggering spasms, breathing difficulties, seizures and even psychosis.