Lithuanian doctors warn of rising child hospitalizations due to unknown vaping substances

Doctors in Lithuania are raising alarms about a growing number of children being hospitalized due to poisoning from vaping substances of unknown composition. Medical professionals at Santaras Clinics' Emergency Medicine Center report that standard tests can only identify a fraction of common narcotics, leaving many synthetic compounds undetectable.

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Standard tests allow us to identify only a part of the classic narcotic substances, but today more and more synthetic compounds are appearing on the market, which they do not detect. A person arrives clearly intoxicated, but the tests may be negative because standard tests simply do not detect it.

Julius Jaramavičius, head of the center, explained that patients often arrive with severe anxiety, hallucinations, heart rhythm disturbances, and in critical cases, impaired consciousness, seizures, or respiratory distress. He stressed the urgency of calling for emergency medical assistance if someone is unresponsive, speaking incoherently, or loses consciousness, as time is crucial in such situations.

Jaramavičius highlighted the particular concern that young people are often unaware of the exact substances they are vaping. While poisoning from legal nicotine products is rare, illegal products can contain anything from synthetic cannabinoids and opioids to other psychoactive and dangerous chemicals. This means children may inhale substances whose composition is unknown even to themselves, medical staff, or vendors.

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If you see a person who does not respond to questions, speaks incoherently, or loses consciousness, do not wait – call an ambulance as soon as possible. In such situations, time can be decisive.

Professor Saulius Čaplinskas, a member of the Lithuanian Seimas and a doctor of medical sciences, urged more decisive action. He argued that products clearly marketed towards children with appealing colors, flavors, and shapes, which pose health risks, should not be tolerated while awaiting long-term evidence. He emphasized that single-use e-cigarettes are becoming a gateway to addiction and that children must not have access to them. Čaplinskas also pointed out that prevention starts within families, schools, and society, not just in parliament, as children learn from their environment.

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From legal products, poisonings happen extremely rarely. If there are signs of poisoning, it is likely that there will be more than just simple nicotine in that electronic cigarette. Illegal products can contain practically anything – from synthetic cannabinoids to opioids or other psychoactive substances and other dangerous chemical compounds. This means that children or young people can inhale substances whose composition is unknown to them, medical professionals, or sellers.

Liudas Zakarevičius, Director of External Affairs for Philip Morris in the Baltic States, noted that while e-cigarette sales are already strictly regulated in Lithuania, a significant portion of products on the market still do not comply with regulations.

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If a product is clearly aimed at children, is attractive in colors, flavors, and shape, and poses a health risk, we should not wait another fifteen or twenty years for all the evidence of long-term consequences to be gathered. We are already seeing short-term harm.