WHAT ARE YOUR KIDS HIDING in their school bags?

We take a look at the new legal high, popular with celebs and footballers, which is sweeping UK schools

- GEORGINA FULLER, JOHANNA BEL

Georgina Fuller, 46, is a mother of three and lives in Oxfordshire. 

I had to pretend not to be alarmed recently when my eldest son, 15, casually mentioned he’d seen people trying to sell up to five kilos of ‘snus’, aka nicotine pouches, on TikTok because ‘it’s what all the Premier League footballers use, Mum’. I was horrified.

Keen to find out more about these sinister-sounding ‘snus’, I did a quick Google search, which revealed that more than 200 schools have recently warned parents about it. Cripes. And unlike traditional illegal snus, it’s available to buy online and in shops.

Worse still, it’s often placed right next to the sweets section to make it more alluring to children like my son, and, just like vapes, it’s also presented in cool packaging, which appeals to kids.

BEING VIGILANT

‘I’d never take it – it’s only the troublemakers that use it,’ my son replied when I cautiously pressed him about it. Of course I was relieved, but it didn’t stop me worrying, especially when he admitted he knew some local teenagers who used it.