Belgian drug chief warns illegal vapes could hook children on 'spice'
The majority of illegal refillable vape capsules seized in Belgium are laced with synthetic cannabinoids, Belgium's drug commissioner warned. This risks addiction from a young age.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/12/05/belgian-drug-chief-warns-illegal-vapes-could-hook-children-on-opioids
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00:00Belgium's first-ever drug commissioner, Ine van Weemers, has told Euronews that 80% of the illegal refill vape capsules seized by Belgian customs contain dangerous synthetic opioids.
00:15She warns of a real risk to children who could get hooked on these hidden opioids.
00:20The risk is that they will be addicted on a very young age, that their brain will not develop the way it should be. These are serious health risks and we need to protect them from that by taking measures against all these logistic chain issues that are abused for synthetical drugs.
00:41Aside from breaking logistic chains, van Weemers said tackling the business model is also key, especially to prevent gangs from recruiting within the authorities.
00:51Recent court cases highlighted that Belgium's legal world, including the judicial system and police, was corrupted by organised crime.
01:00There is a lot of money going on in this criminal world and it's with this money that people are convinced to work with criminals.
01:11And that is when we don't tackle the business model, then we are having a serious risk to develop towards a narco state.
01:20Van Weemers took on her role in 2023, after Belgium's main port in Antwerp became the major gateway to cocaine entering Europe.
01:29One side effect of drugs flooding European markets is heightened gun violence and gangs fighting for turf, forming a public security threat.
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