'I thought it was an April Fool's joke': Teen addicted to Kpods on news that friend died

SINGAPORE - His first taste of a drug-laced e-vaporiser was when he was 15, after a friend introduced him to it at a party in October 2024.

They became close friends over the course of a year.

"He asked me to try this thing and I thought it was just a normal vape. But after he used it, he started acting very sluggish, like a zombie," said Joe (not his real name).

The e-vaporiser was laced with etomidate, a potent anaesthetic agent typically used in clinical practice.

In Singapore, it has become known as the main ingredient in Kpods - vape juice laced with synthetic drugs and pharmaceutical products.

"I inhaled the first puff very deeply and felt very dizzy. My body also started to feel very light," Joe recalled.

He said he was not hooked immediately but later depended on the device to get over a failed romance in December 2024.

At one point, he was using one drug-laced vape every day, spending nearly $1,000 a month on his habit.

He tapped money he received during Chinese New Year and on his birthday.

Joe, who was accompanied by his parents during the interview with The Straits Times, said: "I remembered what it felt like when I used it at my friend's house the first time.

"It made me forget. It helped me to cope with certain things and I thought it would help me ease my stress."

Soon, the pair of friends - who once played video games and went swimming together - began meeting just to use Kpods.

Joe knew that the pods were laced with etomidate. He said he had watched some videos on social media app TikTok that explained what the anaesthetic compound is.

He once had a bad fall while under the effects of the Kpod and realised only hours later that he was bleeding from his arms and legs.

Joe added that many of his friends were also using Kpods, which can cost up to $60 for a cartridge.

That changed in April, when his close friend died after falling off a ledge at his Housing Board block, Joe said.

"My friend was depressed when he was introduced to Kpods. He started to abuse it too.

"His mother told me that one night, he went to the lift lobby near the eighth floor and sat on the ledge," said Joe, adding that his friend's mother said her son had been using Kpods at the time.

Joe's friend was only 14.

"I thought it was an April Fool's joke until I saw his obituary. After I attended his wake, I couldn't get the image of his body out of my head. I had to use Kpods to cope with his death," he said.

Joe's father said he accompanied him to the wake in April.

When he saw Joe breaking down upon seeing his friend's body, he used the opportunity to speak to his son.

"He said he did not stop his friend from using Kpods because he thought he should not point out his good friend's mistakes. It ended in a tragedy," said Joe's father.

But Joe could not stop.

A few weeks after the funeral, the teenager experienced constant tremors and numbness, and coughed up blood.

He locked himself in his room and continued to puff on the laced device.

He finally made the decision to stop relying on Kpods when his friend's mother reached out to him.

"We were very close. I was almost like her second son. She told me then she knew I was also using Kpods, and asked me to stop."

Not alert

Joe's father said he suspected his son was addicted to Kpods when his grades and attendance started to slip.

"He would be sleepy during the day and stay up late at night in his room. My wife noticed how he was no longer alert.

"We were confused by his inability to focus," said Joe's father.

The parents sought professional help after many conversations with Joe. "We tried to approach him with calm and patience but it was not always easy. At home, we started supervising him more closely," said the father.

In the end, Joe managed to keep his word to his friend's mother, and quit vaping in April.

"At that time, my world was dependent on Kpods. I would be very restless without it in my system and become very agitated.

"But the time I could have used to study or better myself, I used it on Kpods. It's like I just threw that part of my life away."

 This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.