Gardaí call in forensic experts as students fall ill after smoking vapes on Cork school premises
After Four Picture: Wire Nick Smoking Became Unwell File Ansell/pa School Teenagers At A Vape
The boys, aged 14 and 15, became ill at Coláiste an Chraoibhín in Fermoy after smoking a vape on the school premises.
The alarm was raised after teachers were alerted to a “medical incident” and ambulance crews and gardaí attended the scene.
The boys appeared to be very unwell and were treated on site by ambulance personnel.
Just one vaping product was used by the four boys at the time of the incident, according to Garda sources.
It is believed a dangerous substance was ingested through the vape and following initial Garda inquiries, a number of searches were conducted at businesses and residences in the Fermoy area yesterday.
Items of “evidential value” were seized and some of the vaping products will now be sent to Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) laboratories for further analysis.
The course of action to be taken by gardaí will depend on the outcome of this analysis.
In recent months, the HSE has been warning parents that vaping is on the rise among children and young people, and has been linked to serious harms such as poisoning, burns, lung injuries, and asthma exacerbations.
In a statement yesterday, the Cork Education and Training Board (CETB), which has responsibility for Coláiste an Chraoibhín, confirmed that gardaí and emergency services had been on site at the school on Wednesday.
“The incident was successfully managed and Cork ETB and Coláiste an Chraoibhín would like to thank the gardaí and the emergency services for their assistance,” said a CETB spokesperson.
Local Fine Gael councillor Noel McCarthy, a member of the school’s board of management, paid tribute to the school staff for their actions and said the incident was “very concerning”.
In a statement, gardaí highlighted HSE safety advice regarding vaping and “cannabis-infused edibles”.
Legislation banning the sale of vaping products to under-18s has just passed the final stage of the legislative process in the Dáil.
The Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill will now go through the Seanad.
Under the legislation, a licence will be required for the sale of tobacco and nicotine-inhaling products.
The sale of cigarettes and vapes through vending machines will also be prohibited, as will the sale of the products at events for children.
The advertising of nicotine-inhaling products around schools, in cinemas, and on public transport will also be banned under the legislation.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly told the Dáil there has been a “really concerning increase in the number of teenagers vaping”.
The bill does not address the availability of a range of different flavours of vapes, but Mr Donnelly said this area needs to be looked at.
“In some countries they have just two flavours, so we are looking at that,” he said.
“Critically, I wanted to include a full ban on single-use disposable vapes as well.”
Last month, the Faculty of Paediatrics at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland called for a ban on disposable vapes to protect the health and wellbeing of children and young people, as well as the environment.
The group warned young people are now using disposable vapes in “alarming” numbers. Young people using vapes are likely to transition to traditional cigarette use, posing additional serious health harms from smoking, a report from the faculty stated.
In recent days, funding of €550,000 was announced for a Royal College of Surgeons project to study the impact of vaping, particularly on young people.