Two Oldham mums have called for a pupil to be expelled after their sons fainted after being given a vape on the school bus, which they suspect may have contained THC, the principal psychoactive substance in cannabis.

The Saddleworth School pupils ended up in A&E following the incident, which took place last month.

One of the mums has described the school as "rife with vaping", and has called for more to be done.

The school's headteacher has said vapes are "strictly prohibited" and it has been working with public health and community policing to highlight the issue to pupils.

Greater Manchester Police says no such substance was found in the boys' blood following the incident.

Both mums asked for their sons, aged 14 and 15, not to be named in The Oldham Times.

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‘Thinking the worst’

Mum Kim Taylor said her son was one of two who ended up in A&E. She said her son and the other boy, who did not know each other before the incident, had some of the vape.

The boys were suspended for a few days as a result of the incident on September 15.

Ms Taylor said she had just picked up her three-year-old daughter when she received a phone call from one of her son’s teachers, which she put on speakerphone.

The teacher told Ms Taylor that her son was unconscious and that he had taken something, leaving her daughter ‘hysterical’ and Kim ‘thinking the worst’.

She added: “I had to get from Greenfield all the way up to Diggle – at school pick-up time it’s crazy, it was awful.

“I was panicking thinking the worst. When I got there, the paramedics were there checking them over and they said he’d had a vape and they were thinking it’s got THC in and Spice, because both of them had passed out from having it.

“They’d checked them over and their blood pressure was really low, and then they took them to the hospital to be checked properly, and they let them home that night.”

Call for expulsion

Ms Taylor is calling for the pupil who supplied the vape, who was suspended, to be expelled from the school.

She said: “The headteacher doesn’t agree with that, I don’t know why.”

The 38-year-old mum added: “It’s like they’re not taking it seriously. The headteacher says he’s viewed the CCTV footage and he said he can see whose the vape was, but he said he can’t confirm what was in the vape.

“There must have been something in the vape because they both passed out.”

No substance found

Ms Taylor added: “It’s not normal is it, the vaping? The vapes are supposed to be used for quitting smoking and the kids are using them, it’s like a fashion thing isn’t it?

“You don’t know what’s in these vapes, even without them being laced with THC and god knows what.”

Greater Manchester Police said it appeared no offences had taken place, and no substance was found in the blood of the two boys following the incident.

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School ‘rife with vaping’

The mum of the other boy, who does not wish to be identified, said she was also told the vape was suspected to be THC.

After initial confusion, she was told to go to Royal Oldham Hospital – where she ended up waiting for more than an hour for her son to arrive.

She said: “Things could have been done a lot better than it had, keeping me in the loop. I couldn’t leave as I have four other children, I’d just finished work.”

The mum says her son, aged 14, does vape himself and that she’s trying to wean him off it, under advice from the drug and alcohol service Early Break.

She said her son was an ‘A* student’ in primary school, receiving awards at the end of the year.

She added: “He admitted it about six months ago, he came home and told me. I said no, it’s not happening – I don’t smoke, I don’t vape, no. I grounded him, took his Xbox off him, but it became quite clear it wasn’t going to stop.

“I said I’d put him on a lower dosage. On the day of the incident, I took his vape off him as he was taking ages getting ready. Obviously, what had happened is he hadn’t had his vape all day and when he got on the bus, he tried this vape.”

She added: “He’s not the only child that’s vaping, this school is absolutely rife with vaping, and nothing’s being done about it.”

Vaping ‘strictly prohibited’, says headteacher

Saddleworth School headteacher Mike Anderson said: “On Friday 15th September, we received a report that a small group of students were vaping on a bus while travelling home, resulting in two students becoming seriously unwell.

“Prompt action was taken by the driver and school staff, who administered first aid and the affected students attended A&E as a precaution. Thankfully, these students did not experience any lasting effects.

“However, this incident highlights the hazards associated with unregulated vapes, which are illegally supplied to young people.

“Vaping and the possession of vapes are strictly prohibited at Saddleworth School, and students involved have been appropriately addressed in line with our school behaviour policy.

“We know that young people vaping is an issue facing many areas so we are continuing to work with the Oldham Public Health Team, who have developed a vaping support pack which provides information on vaping, debunking myths around use and provides ways to access support services.

“We have also collaborated closely with the Community Policing Team, who have engaged with the students involved to emphasise the dangers of vapes and vaping.”