With the disposable vape ban taking effect from June 1, and the Tobacco and Vapes Bill that will introduce restrictions on the flavours, display and packaging of all types of vapes, progressing through Parliament, this would be an ideal time for schools to take action.
Schools are often reticent about the issue, but one customer of Ecl-ips, Tony McCabe, Headteacher at St Joseph’s RC High School, in Horwich, has appeared on regional and national media to highlight the problem. He said, “It’s a new pandemic that will grow unless we make enough noise… to make sure that young people are not at the centre of that market."
Many schools find the large numbers of students vaping within its toilets becomes hard to manage, and is often associated with anti-social behaviour, but the sensors can help with both issues. They can be placed discreetly in private areas, such as school toilets and changing rooms, that would be unsuitable for video camera surveillance.
Charlotte Slattery, Deputy Head Teacher, at St Joseph’s College in Stoke-on-Trent said: “We had seen an increase in incidents of vaping in our toilets. It was difficult to ‘prove’ that this was happening and to be able to respond in a timely way. Some toilets were believed to be more of a ‘hot spot’ than others and we focused on these toilets first.”
The Halo Smart Sensor can detect all forms of vaping, including when it is being masked by aerosols, as well as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is found in cannabis. The detection of THC led to the exclusion of one of the pupils at another customer, Silverdale School in Sheffield.
Mr McCabe added “Our sensors are really smart; they can measure whether ...the vape has been laced with THC. We've picked up ..quite a few vapes that seem to have traces of THC.”
Separately, last summer, University of Bath Professor, Chris Pudney raised concerns about the dangers of vaping when a team he led tested confiscated vapes from schools across England. They found the dangerous and addictive drug, spice, in 1 in 6 (16.6%) of the 596 vapes confiscated.