20% of young people in addiction services have taken legal drug sold in vapes
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Around 20% of young people presenting to adolescent addiction services in recent months were associated with a semi-synthetic form of cannabis legally sold in vape shops, the country’s top health expert on drugs has said.
The HSE's clinical lead on addiction, Prof Eamon Keenan, said those presenting to the HSE teenage drug services are reporting “mental health problems” after consuming HHC [hexahydrocannabinol] vapes.
Prof Keenan is building a case for the Department of Health to include HHC in existing drug laws and have its sale banned.
Senior gardaí are aware of the concern around the substance but, as it is not deemed illegal, it is currently outside their remit.
“We have been aware that it’s being sold legally in some of the vape shops, but what has emerged recently is that we are seeing presentations to our adolescent addiction services,” said Prof Keenan.
Speaking at the launch of the HSE harm reduction programme for summer festivals, Prof Keenan said HHC presentations are in “the low double digits”, but said this was just in a couple of months.
He said the issue of vaping, generally, and of vaping synthetic or semi-synthetic cannabinoids, was a topic of a webinar he presented at with secondary school principals last week.
“One of the principals from Fermoy, Cork, reported significant problems last year with HHC, where three young people became ill and emergency services were called and the young people were transported to hospital,” he said.
“So, it’s very much in the mind of school principals, vaping and vaping of synthetic cannabinoids.”
The incident in Fermoy, which happened last November, highlighted the potential seriousness from synthetic cannabis — including in vapes — for health authorities.
Hexahydrocannabinol is a semi-synthetic cannabinoid, in that the chemical is sprayed onto cannabis, typically low-grade quality.
Prof Keenan said he is particularly concerned given the popularity of vaping among young children and teenagers, and the fact that HHC vapes also come in flavours such as bubblegum and strawberry.
Irish research, reported in the last February, documented two cases of psychosis believed to be linked to HHC.
Psychiatrists and doctors from University of Galway and Mercy University Hospital Cork said HHC was "readily available" online and in retail vape shops here.
The research said the drug should be included as a "psychoactive substance" under the Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Act 2010.
“To make the case stronger, we need biological samples of people who present with problems associated with HHC,” Prof Keenan said.
“What I’m doing is providing information to the Department of Health in relation to the harms with it and looking for biological samples of people who present to services with harms associated with HHC and asking the department to make a determination about the legal status.”
Prof Keenan said he expects to see “ more potent” drugs circulating at this year’s festivals, with the potential for greater harm to users.
He said the HSE Safer Nightlife campaign is in its third year and will be present at four festivals in 2024.
It will include its drug checking system, to detect high potency and rogue substances and enable staff to issue alerts to users and provide harm reduction advice.
HSE senior biochemist Sinead McNamara said that, thanks to the drug checking, they have been able to detect seven substances that had not been identified in Ireland before.
“No one knows what they are taking anymore, there are so many substances,” she said.