Cheap RM1 mushroom vapes targeting teens raise concern over brain harm, drug exposure and growing school safety risks

LET Makcik say this loudly for the people at the back – and also for the parents still convinced their anak only vapes “for the strawberry flavour”.

Children are buying mushroom-laced vapes for RM1. Yes, one ringgit – not RM100, not RM10 – one ringgit. About the price of loose change hiding in your car’s cup holder.

And if thats sounds dramatic, consider this: in a special report by theSun early last year, even drug users themselves warned that the effects could be catastrophic.

Speaking to theSun in a northern state, several users issued the same blunt warning: “This is not something to play with.” Let that sink in for a moment.

When people who are already familiar with drugs start waving red flags, perhaps the rest of us should stop scrolling and pay attention.

Even veteran addicts accustomed to methamphetamine and opioid-based substances were sounding the alarm. If seasoned users are worried, imagine what this could do to teenagers who think they are simply puffing something that tastes like grape candy.

Now add the festive timing. With Hari Raya around the corner – when families gather, aunties gossip, uncles suddenly become experts on everything from football to inflation and cousins roam the house like festive tornadoes – this may be the perfect moment to put the fear of God into the young ones about what these things can actually do. Because frankly, some of them need a reality check stronger than sirap bandung.

The RM1 poison in a pretty stick

Here’s how the trap works: a colourful disposable vape – looking suspiciously like something from a toy shop – gets filled with substances linked to psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound associated with the so-called “magic mushrooms”.

Add flavours like grape, bubblegum or mango, package it nicely and sell it quietly under school desks, near tuition centres or around mamak stalls.

Suddenly, a hallucinogenic drug is being marketed like a chewing gum promotion. Kids think it’s harmless. Sellers know exactly what they are doing. And parents? Some are still debating whether their child should bring Milo in a flask or buy air sirap from the canteen, completely unaware that something far more dangerous may already be sitting inside the schoolbag.

Teenage brains are not experimental laboratories

Let’s be very clear: psilocybin is a hallucinogen. That means it alters perception, mood and thought patterns. Even in adults, it can trigger paranoia, anxiety, confusion and psychological distress.

Now imagine introducing that to a teenage brain that is still developing. It is like pouring paint thinner onto fresh wiring and hoping the lights still work.

The teenage brain is busy forming decision-making abilities, emotional control and memory pathways. Interfering with that process is not some harmless teenage experiment; it is potentially long-term neurological sabotage.

And yet, the sales pitch floating around playground gossip often sounds something like this: “Relax-lah, it’s natural”, “Helps you chill”, “Not like real drugs”.

 Aiyoh. You know what else is natural? Snake venom. Try sipping that and see how relaxing it feels.

Why children are the target

These sellers are not stupid; they know exactly who they are targeting.

Teenagers are curious, easily influenced by peers, desperate to look “cool” and often unaware of long-term consequences. Add social media hype and a sprinkle of boredom and suddenly a vape becomes a badge of rebellion.

But let’s call this what it really is. Selling hallucinogenic vapes to schoolchildren is not entrepreneurship; it is predatory behaviour. Plain and simple.

Schools and authorities cannot look the other way

Now comes Makcik’s gentle lempang – lovingly delivered to every system that should already be paying attention.

If schools can enforce dress codes down to the millimetre, surely they can conduct random bag checks, stricter vape monitoring and awareness programmes that actually scare kids straight.

Because let’s be honest, the typical anti-drug assembly talk with a sleepy PowerPoint from 1998 is not going to impress a generation raised on TikTok.

Bring in doctors, addiction survivors and people who can show the real consequences. Kids do not remember bullet points; they remember stories.

Parents, this is your cue too

And parents – yes, Makcik is looking at you. If your teenager suddenly smells like a perfume factory, becomes unusually moody, sleeps at strange hours or hides things quickly when you walk in, please do not just say, “Ala, teenage phase”.

Sometimes it is, sometimes it is not. Talk to them – not just about exams and homework – talk about pressure, stress, friendships, social media and the strange things circulating in their circles. Youcannot fight what you do not even know exists.

Raya: the perfect time for a family reality check

With Hari Raya coming soon, families across Malaysia will gather for open houses, balik kampung journeys and endless plates of rendang.

Which means something magical happens. Children are suddenly surrounded by aunties, uncles, grandparents, cousins and that one loud relative who tells the truth a bit too enthusiastically.

In other words – a ready-made intervention squad. This may be the perfect time to remind the younger generation that not everything trendy is harmless, not everything sold cheaply is safe and not every vape is “just flavour”.

Sometimes, it is something far more dangerous hiding inside a shiny plastic stick.

Final word from the living room sofa

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: it may only cost RM1 to buy the vape but the damage it can cause can last a lifetime.

Mood disorders, memory problems, poor impulse control and a young brain that never quite develops the way it should have. That is a very expensive price for something sold cheaper than a kuih at the bazaar.

So while we are busy preparing kuih raya, polishing the rumah and arguing about who finished the last jar of pineapple tarts, perhaps we should also prepare something else. A conversation, a warning, a firm reminder that some trends are not funny, not harmless and definitely not worth experimenting with.

And if Makcik has to raise her voice about it until someone listens – well, so be it.

Azura Abas is the executive editor of theSun. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

 The Sun Malaysia