VIDEO – VAPE BUYERS BEWARE –
April 13, 2023 – Her son was buying vape cartridges from kids at Stanwood High School, but he had no idea nicotine wasn’t the only drug seeping into his system.
The mom took several cartridges from her son and brought them to the Stanwood Police Department where an officer tested them.
“We knew he was on drugs,” she said. “We knew it had to be something more than just a vape.”
A police report obtained indicates at least one of the cartridges came back positive for heroin.
The mom notified the school which put out a message in its weekly newsletter warning parents that vape cartridges that could be “refilled with illicit substances” and “laced with illegal drugs” had been found in the community.
She thinks that announcement didn’t go far enough and wants everyone to know this is a very real threat.
“It was almost my kid’s life,” she said. “If there was more supervision or some course of how to handle it, it wouldn’t have gone so rampant.”
Heroin-laced vapes have been reported along America’s Rust Belt, from West Virginia to Ohio, but the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Seattle Division said this is the first time they have been seen here.
“This is new to us. Things often start on the east coast and move west,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Jacob Galvan. “It’s very dangerous. That’s why people shouldn’t be using anything they get off the street, whether it’s a fake pill or a device like this.”
Parents say vaping is out of control among teens in town. The Stanwood mom said she is just thankful her son is still alive.
“He could be dead,” she said. “Had we not gotten to it we would not be here right now. This would’ve been a totally different story.”
