Greenwich Police and Stamford Teen Warn about Vaping: Blackened Tongues, Exploding Devices

vaping vaping 2Monday’s Communities 4 Action annual meeting at UConn Stamford was attended by a wide cross section of health professionals, social services professionals, police and elected officials.

The group of about 200 learned about Vaping, a trend that has hit home in Greenwich with the recent arrest of the owner of Clouds Vapor Lounge.

On June 6, Greenwich Police Dept Narcotics unit, along with DEA task force officers, DEA agents, and the Stamford Police K-9 unit searched Clouds Vapor Lounge in Byram.

The search stemmed from an extensive investigation conducted by the Greenwich Police Narcotics unit, who received information that the owner of the establishment, Miguel Rivera, was known to be actively selling different forms and variations of liquid THC at the vapor lounge. Liquid THC is an extremely potent form of marijuana.

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In 2015, GFP ran a feature on a vaping contest at Clouds, interviewing patrons who vehemently defended e-cigarettes and saw vaping as a step down from smoking cigarettes.

At Monday’s Communities 4 Action meeting, 18-year-old Rayon Meikle from DOMUS House in Stamford gave a tell-all about vaping, which he adamantly warned against.

Rayon showed the crowd of about 200 attendees examples of vaping devices, which he said are priced from $30 to $600. He said the battery alone costs $30.

“If your kid asks you for $200, he’s buying one,” he warned. “Say no.”

“Kids nowadays are using vape — I was one of those kids too,” he said. “You just put a dab on and smoke it,” he said.


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rayon 2Greenwich Police Officer Carlos Franco explained that a “dab” is a honey based marijuana that is made into a wax with a high THC level.

“They use the name ‘Pancake Man’ on the juice to trick kids into it,” Rayon continued, adding that the  juice is not regulated that any 13-year old kid can walk into a corner store and purchase it.

“VG has a lot of chemicals, they don’t say what it really is. It can make your tongue turn black,” Rayon warned.

“Three months ago a friend of mine went in a store and bought juice that said it was VG (Vegetable Glycerin) but it wasn’t. Vegetable Glycerin is an odorless liquid that is combined with flavor and nicotine to create e-juice.

Rayon said his friend had to go to the hospital after his tongue turned black from vaping.

Rayon said that a “pinky press” is a vaping device that ignites with a push of the pinky finger. One of the examples he shared, a device that had been confiscate by police, still had skin burnt onto it.

“These vapes are not something you want to use. They can explode on you. My friend — his hand exploded. He didn’t know his fingers was on the button,” Rayon said.

“I recommend that VG should be illegal because it hurts a lot of people. They say it doesn’t effect people with asthma, but I see it affect a lot of people,” Rayon said. “I’ve seen so many things I’ve never saw before. I’m seeing middle school children coming out of school and vaping.  They’re taking it to a whole new level. It’s going to be hard to stop.”

Rayon said teens are using YouTube as a how-to resource to make the juices at home in their basements.

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“I’d say there’s a lot more people using vape than marijuana,” he added. He attributed the lure of vaping to teenagers to the desire to look cool. “It’s all because of rap music and the videos they see of vaping. If I go out on the street vaping, they see it looks cool so they want to do it.”

See also on Vaping:

Take a Selfie While Vaping? Oxford Word of the Year: Vape

What’s Vaping all About? Owner of Clouds Vapors & Lounge Explains

PHOTOS: Anti-Tobacco Community Gathers at Clouds Vapors & Lounge in Byram

Greenwich Major Drug Bust at Clouds Vapor Lounge in Byram

On Marijuana

Alarming Facts About Marijuana and Synthetic Marijuana Use in Adolescents

On Heroin and Opioid Abuse

Talk Turns to Heroin in Greenwich: The Drug Has Worked its Way into Every Segment of Society

Addiction and the Power of Denial in Greenwich

Teens & Drugs: Q&A with Police, GEMS, GHS Health Teacher and Mom Whose Son Died of Heroin OD

GHS Grads Break Silence on Drugs from Marijuana to Heroin

Young Reader Responds to “GHS Grads Break Silence on Drugs from Marijuana to Heroin”

Why Do Kids Use Drugs? GHS Guest Speaker Asks Tough Question

Parent Response to ‘GHS Grads Break Silence on Drugs’: My son asks me why didn’t I do more?

Recovery is Something to Celebrate in Greenwich


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