Electronic cigarettes are being used to vape illegal substances like cannabis, crack cocaine, ecstasy and heroine.
A study by public health experts has revealed that e-cigarette users are modifying their vaping devices so they can inhale vapour from banned drugs.
Vaping of recreational drugs and new psychoactive substances poses a serious potential public health risk. This could increase the prevalence of use, decrease the age of onset of use and lead to more problematic use of cannabis and other recreational drugs through vaping devices.
Modern e-cigarettes, tabletop vaporisers and vape pens can be modified for use with illegal drugs.
One of the most common reason for vaping drugs is that users thought it was safer than taking them in other ways. Increasing availability, use and acceptance of vaping devices, may lead to greater use of recreational drugs by increasing drug exposure.
The ability to vape deodorised drugs, like cannabis, more discreetly with no smell – known as ‘stealth vaping’ – makes drug use harder to detect. Vaporisers are being used for street drugs such as heroin, cannabis and cocaine, people preferred cannabis to tobacco due to the health risks but this makes vaping common and acceptable.