Vapes containing hallucinogenic toad venom and ‘spice’ sold on black market
Vapes containing dangerous illegal substances including synthetic cannabinoids and potent psychedelics based on toad venom are being used by drugs networks to attract new customers, including young people, i has been told.
The threat posed by illicit vapes being sold across Britain via social media platforms and peer groups was highlighted this week by research exposing the use of so-called “Zombie drug” xylazine to adulterate illegal vaping liquids being marketed as containing THC, the main active ingredient in cannabis.
Xylazine has been linked to 11 deaths in the UK between May 2022 and last August, with additional fatalities understood to have occurred since.
There is increasingly strong evidence that organised crime gangs and smaller operators are using vaping pens and liquid refills as a means of distributing other illegal substances such as “Spice”, a shifting cocktail of synthetic cannabinoids which is often far more potent than the active ingredients in herbal cannabis. A powerful and increasingly sought-after psychedelic drug known as DMT, which is based on a compound found in Amazonian tree barks and even the hallucinogenic venom exuded through the skin of a Mexican toad, is also being offered on the UK black market.
According to research being finalised in Manchester, there are strong grounds for concern that the prevalence of nicotine vapes is leading to their use as a stepping stone towards illegal substance use. An annual survey of recreational drug users conducted by Manchester Metropolitan University found that among young people, more than three quarters had used a nicotine vape in the previous 12 months, with just under half then also using a THC-branded product.
Professor Robert Ralphs, who heads the project, told i: “There has been this shift to vaping by young people especially and nicotine vaping for some is leading a transition to vaping THC and other substances.”
Law enforcement sources pointed to an additional vaping trend with marketing of liquids containing Dimethyltryptamine or DMT, a powerful hallucinogen associated with the ayahuasca drink used in Amazonian ritual practices. One of the traditional sources of DMT is from the hallucinogenic venom of the Bufo alvarius toad, which originates from the Sonoran Desert between Mexico and the US. Liquids containing DMT are openly advertised online despite being illegal in most countries. One US-based seller contacted by i said it regularly supplied customers in the UK and offered a vape pen capable of inducing a “blast-off… full hallucinogenic high”.
The drug extracted from the toad excretions, known as “Bufo”, has gained a high-profile following in America with celebrities including boxer Mike Tyson publicly attesting as to its alleged healing effects on the psyche. There are concerns, however, that unverified chemical analogues are entering the market with no control over the serious side-effects that psychedelic drugs can inflict.
A UK police source said: “The expansion of vaping products is giving bad-faith actors and criminal groups the opportunity to experiment on their customers with untested and dangerous compounds. The same rule applies to these products as any illegal substance being offered for sale – steer clear because you simply don’t know what is in them.”
Dr Caroline Copeland, the lead of author of the study by Kings College London that this week revealed the growing use of xylazine in the UK, told i that its presence in vapes has opened a potential new route for drug harms in Britain by exposing recreational drug users to a lethal substance more usually associated with opioid abuse.
Xylazine, a powerful animal sedative also known as “tranq”, is at the heart of an opioid addiction crisis in America, where it is combined with heroin or the synthetic opioid fentanyl and often leaves users with festering ulcers and skin sores that can lead to limb amputations.
The damaging nature of xylazine means its presence in vapes and other drugs goes unadvertised by sellers, while Spice is also often added undeclared to “cannabis” vapes marketed as containing THC.
Experts are concerned that xylazine’s recent appearance in the UK and other European countries in vaping liquids, as well as counterfeit versions of medicines such as the painkiller codeine, means the drug is at risk of being introduced to a far wider audience as the popularity of vapes continues to grow, particularly among the young.
Dr Copeland said: “The appearance of xylazine in vapes in the UK means that a wider population of people who use drugs beyond heroin users are at risk of its harms. Cannabis users are quite a distinct demographic from your average heroin user, and they would probably think that xylazine isn’t something of concern to them.”
The National Crime Agency told i that the use of xylazine to adulterate drugs sold in Britain is not yet considered to be widespread.
The Government has announced a ban on all disposable vapes, likely to come into place by next year. But there are concerns among addiction experts that sufficient numbers of young people have become hooked on the devices to provide drug networks with a ready supply of customers for years to come as users habituated to using the devices for nicotine move on to more potent highs.
Police forces across the country have issued warnings to schools in recent weeks about the risks of youngsters accessing illegal vapes, which are being sold as containing refined Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC but often instead contain synthetic Spice compounds, most of them thought to be made in laboratories in China and India. The devices, which can cost as little as £15, are sold via social media platforms such as Snapchat or distributed between peer groups.
Last month, a school pupil in Herne Bay, Kent, was hospitalised after collapsing when handed a Spice-laced vape bought online by another student at the school gates. In January, five students became so unwell after using a THC-branded vape in Eltham, south east London, that one of the youngsters had to be put into an induced coma by medics.
An analysis by i showed that of 22 vaping liquids tested last month by WEDINOS, a pioneering UK-wide drug sampling service run by Public Health Wales, ten were found to contain powerful synthetic cannabinoids. They included a substance known as MDMB-4en-PINACA which has already been associated with 15 deaths in America and Europe, according to the EU’s drug monitoring agency.
Addiction experts underlined that habitual opioid users continue to face the highest risk of overdose and fatality from illegal substances. In 2022, there were 4,907 deaths linked to illicit drugs in Britain – the highest-ever figure recorded.
Harry Shapiro, director of charity DrugWise, said the lack of a reliable means of monitoring the levels of substances such as xylazine in street drugs left those with most serious addictions at the highest risk. He said: “The primary victims of this will be those with existing serious drug (mainly heroin) problems – rather than clubbers or festival goers.”
Data posted by WEDINOS suggests that while xylazine is being detected in a growing number of cases – some 24 incidences in the last eight months, compared to 15 in the two years to last August – the majority of discoveries relate to its use as an adulterant in street heroin, alongside other lethal compounds such as nitazene, a synthetic opioid which can as much as ten times more potent than fentanyl.
Chris Yates, deputy director of the NCA, said: “We are not currently seeing widespread adulteration of illegal drugs in the UK with xylazine. As part of our response to the nitazene threat, the NCA is actively targeting drug traffickers that are adulterating the illicit drug supply with xylazine. We will ensure all lines of investigation are pursued to stem the supply and misuse of these drugs.”
In the meantime, however, those supplying the illegal vaping market say it is here to say. One online seller contacted by i said: “If you want to get high, a vape is the easiest way to do it. People like convenience.”