DAB Pen
A dab pen is a pocket-sized, battery-powered device designed to vaporize solid or semi-solid cannabis concentrates like wax, shatter, and live resin. Dab pens and concentrate vaporizers present significant safeguarding and child protection concerns, particularly regarding youth exploitation, lacing with illegal substances, and county lines grooming.
How It Works
- Battery: Provides power to the device.
- Atomizer: The chamber where concentrates are placed.
- Heating: Uses a coil or ceramic dish to melt and turn the extract into inhalable vapor without burning it.
Dab Pen vs. Vape Pen
- Dab Pens: Built for thick concentrates (wax, shatter, budder) that you load manually into a chamber.
- Vape Pens: Built for pre-filled liquid oil cartridges using a 510-thread connection and wicking system.
Key elements
- Portability: Smaller and lighter than traditional glass dab rigs.
- No Flame: Uses internal electronic heating instead of an external butane torch.
- Discretion: Produces vapor with an odour that clears much faster than smoke
Key Safeguarding Risks
- Criminal Exploitation & Grooming: Criminal networks increasingly use free vapes and cannabis-laced pens as bait to target and groom young people, sometimes pulling vulnerable minors into shoplifting, debt bondage, or organized crime.
- Substance Lacing (THC and Spice): Unregulated or illicitly refilled dab pens distributed via social media apps (like Snapchat) have been found to contain dangerous Class B substances like THC or synthetic cannabinoids (Spice), leading to sudden collapse, severe illness, or hospitalization among minors.
- Legal and Age Restrictions: In the UK, it is illegal to sell any vaping products to anyone under the age of 18, and possession of pens containing controlled drugs like THC violates the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
- Health and Safety Hazards: High-potency concentrates carry high risks of acute intoxication, psychological distress, and rapid addiction, alongside device-related safety issues like lithium-ion battery overheating or fire hazards in school environments.