(live here) – The dangers of e-cigarettes continue to take a heavy toll on teenagers' health. A 16-year-old boy from the Galilee was taken to the Rambam Children's Emergency Room on Tuesday, May 6, 5, after smoking a "Bulldog" e-cigarette, which caused him to hallucinate and convulse. This is the third case in just a few weeks in which an e-cigarette, suspected of containing synthetic cannabinoids, has caused serious and life-threatening symptoms.
The danger of synthetic cannabinoids
The incident that occurred last Tuesday joins two other cases recently reported by Rambam. Last week, a 15-year-old boy came to the emergency room after consuming a cigarette under the "The Bulldog" brand and suffered from stuttering and extreme confusion. Three weeks ago, another boy was evacuated after experiencing a seizure as a result of exposure to a similar substance. In all three cases, a substance from the synthetic cannabinoid group was detected in the inhalation - dangerous street drugs that cause severe physical and mental symptoms.
A dangerous drug – disguised as "cannabis"
Dr. Yael Luria, Director of the National Poison Information Institute at Rambam, warns that these are particularly dangerous substances, which are fundamentally different from the familiar cannabis. According to her, the synthetic cannabinoids are produced in pirated laboratories, sometimes without any supervision or information about their composition. They are sold as e-cigarette vapor, with some products being labeled misleadingly as "THC" - but laboratory tests reveal that this is a completely different drug, much stronger and more dangerous.
"These substances cannot be detected in a standard urine or blood test," explains Dr. Luria, "and therefore only a thorough laboratory test can identify their true composition. Unfortunately, the damage may be irreversible once the substance is already in the body."
Fatal consequences – even after a single use
The side effects of the drug in question include restlessness, nausea, changes in heart rate, confusion, anxiety, addiction, psychotic attacks, hallucinations, seizures, and even kidney failure and heart attacks. Rambam also reports deaths recorded worldwide following the use of synthetic cannabinoids.
The fact that this is a relatively innocent-looking product - an electronic cigarette with vaporizing liquid - makes the danger even greater. "Sales are carried out relatively easily on social media, the Internet, and even in explosions, sometimes with tempting packaging that hides the truth," emphasizes Dr. Luria. "Parents, youth, and education teams must be aware of the danger and recognize warning signs at an early stage."
Rambam study on the effects of electronic cigarettes
As you may recall, at the end of last year, a new study conducted by a team from the Institute of Public Health (IPH) was published in the journal ERJ Open Research, which examined the acute effect of short, single use of an e-cigarette on the human body. The study involved 30 healthy young men aged 25–30, all with a previous history of smoking e-cigarettes. The participants underwent a series of medical tests before and after a half-hour smoking session, which included measuring vital signs, lung function, levels of inflammation in the blood and sputum, and measuring levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
The results of the study revealed immediate and significant physiological changes that were already visible after a short period of smoking: an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate, along with a decrease in nitric oxide levels in the respiratory tract and changes in the composition of volatile organic compounds.
Dr. Michal Gur: "Assessing the acute impact of e-cigarette smoking"
"The aim of the study was to assess the acute impact of e-cigarette smoking on cardiac and respiratory parameters, inflammatory markers, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)," explained Dr. Michal Gur, a senior physician at the Rambam Children's Pulmonary Institute. Gur, along with Dr. Soha Rizik, was part of the research team that conducted the study. According to her, the study was based on innovative 'electronic nose' technology developed at the Technion by Prof. Hussam Haik, and is capable of identifying and analyzing the composition of volatile organic compounds emitted in the respiratory tract.
A real danger to public health
It is important to note that the Ministry of Health issued a serious warning back in 2023 following the detection of the dangerous drug 'Nice Guy' in electronic cigarettes sold in Israel.
The ministry explained that it is a synthetic chemical that can cause serious physical and mental side effects, including hallucinations, confusion, anxiety attacks and loss of control. The drug has been found in several popular brands, including "Premium Vape", "Snoop Dogg" and "The Bulldog", and has been found to be mixed into vaping liquids sold to consumers without their knowledge.
The Ministry of Health also emphasized that this is a real danger to public health, especially among young people and teenagers. The clear recommendation is to avoid all smoking products, including electronic cigarettes, due to the serious health risks inherent in them, and the concern about additional dangerous substances that may be found in vaping mixtures without this being openly stated. "Smoking is dangerous to health, period," the ministry concludes.
As a mother of a teenage girl, it is almost impossible to send the girl to a place where there are no children smoking, watching TV, school, the sea everywhere... Parents are not everywhere, especially in today's complex reality.
I don't understand what the problem is with enacting a law that every police officer who sees a child smoking gives him a report, 3 reports of quitting smoking... It's so stupid that there's a law and every child walks past a police officer and isn't afraid... What kind of country are we building for the future?
When municipalities invest in a bridge, it is unnecessary to turn Matam into an interchange instead of budgets being directed to education, sports, and culture.
So you get teenagers on the streets and on cheap corners in bored schools with electronic cigarettes
As long as there is no enforcement and no information, the situation will only get worse.
Teenagers and young children are allowing themselves to smoke e-cigarettes and this is very serious! I have warned many times children who were smoking e-cigarettes on the bus
Parents, if you care about your children's health, pay attention to this.