How Wiltshire Police are tackling contaminated vapes in schools

We're learning more about how Wiltshire Police is tackling vapes containing illegal substances in schools.

A kit developed at Bath University is allowing officers to test vapes found in classrooms for drugs such as spice and THC.

The device filters the contents of a vape, checking for dangerous substances, before returning the results on a panel of lights. A colour key on the lid shows what colours indicate the presence of which drugs.

Community Support officer, Jonathan Akehurst, told Greatest Hits Radio that it's allowing the Force to identify hotspot areas in the county.

He said: "Our main interest is finding out where we might have some hotspot areas.

"Where there are concerns around THC or spice vape usage allows us to build up an intelligence picture around where our hotspots are and where there might be more localised deals."

It's not about penalising youngsters

Jonathan revealed that Spice is particularly dangerous, because it can have wide-ranging effects on different people.

"The way that I understand it is that you could give it to 50 people and 50 people would have 50 different reactions to it.

"It could be sickness, it could be dizziness, behaviour changes. It could be that they need serious medical help and end up in A&E, these are our worries and concerns that the children are taking spice, not knowing that there's spice within these vapes, after being told it's got THC."

The Force insists they're mission isn't to penalise young people for having the vapes, it's aimed at ensuring they get the right help and support they need.

"It's not about punitive measures," Jonathan said, "It's purely around supporting them, getting the right help and actually showing them that we are here to help and support them as well as the schools we're here to help and support."

He said that schools are "embracing" the kit, saying: "they want to know what's going on at the end of the day within the schools."

Parents are being encouraged to speak to their children about the dangers contaminated vapes can pose.

Officers are working alongside intervention organisations Connect and U-Turn to support young people around substance misuse.

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