Bannockburn P-12 College Student Rushed To Hospital After Collapsed While Smoking Vapor In School Restrooms

A 13-year-old student had to be rushed to hospital after collapsing in the school toilets while allegedly vaping.

The incident happened at about 8:45 a.m. Thursday at Bannockburn P-12 College, northwest of the Victorian city of Geelong.

After being taken to Geelong Hospital, the teen’s condition is said to be stable.

The federal government announced in May that it would ban all recreational use of vapes in Australia, with the health minister citing particular concerns about children.

The strict laws, currently in the consultation phase, will mean that Aussies will only be able to purchase plain-pack vapes with a prescription from pharmacies – not convenience stores, gas stations or other outlets.

“I’m committed to eradicating this public health threat because that’s what I think it really is,” Butler said.

“They should only be available in therapeutic settings, which are essentially pharmacies.

“Only products in plain pharmaceutical-style packaging, plain products, they have no flavours. Only those products should come to Australia.”

As part of the big push, Mr Butler is also preparing to ban disposable vapes, which are single-use e-cigarettes that do not allow refilling of the liquid that is heated electronically to produce the inhaled vapour.

Currently, vapes, also known as e-cigarettes, are available at convenience stores and tobacconists, as well as online sources, and come in a bewildering variety of flavors, shapes, and designs.

The minister said e-cigarettes were initially promoted to governments and health regulators as a therapeutic tool for people to quit smoking.

But he claims that vape makers are targeting children instead to include the dangerous and addictive product.

“It wasn’t sold as a recreational product aimed at our kids, but that’s what it’s become,” he said.

‘Vapes are disguised as marker pens, as USB sticks so people can take them to school and it has a significant health impact on our youngest Australians.’

He accused producers of marketing to young people by decorating vapes with pink unicorns or giving them bubblegum flavours.

The student was rushed to hospital, where he is reportedly in a stable condition (generic image pictured)

The incident happened at Bannockburn P-12 College, northwest of Geelong

“This is a deliberate strategy by the tobacco industry to create a new generation of nicotine addicts and far from being a way out of cigarettes, as it was promoted to us, it has become a way into cigarettes for young people,” he said.

It is estimated that more than one million Australians vape regularly, with one in four 18 to 24 year olds and one in six high school students having tried e-cigarettes.

The Health Minister claims that vaping is now ‘behavioural problem number one in secondary schools and fast becoming number one problem in primary schools’

South Australia announced a two-month crackdown on nicotine vapes sold to children in June.

Random inspections could lead to $10,000 fines for retailers who fail to prove that the vapes they sell to underage consumers do not contain nicotine.

“This is a real public health emergency,” said SA Health Minister Chris Picton.

“We have some difficult years ahead of us because there are so many young people addicted to nicotine,” added Nicola Spurrier, Chief Public Health Officer.

Daily Mail Australia contacted Bannockburn P-12 College for comment.

Experts advise that vaping can be especially harmful to young people because it damages DNA, promotes tumors and can cause a number of respiratory problems