VPZ Has A Razor’s Edge
VPZ, the UK’s largest vaping retailer, called for a complete ban on smoking on National No Smoking Day, partnering with Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock
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by Dave Cross
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Latest insight from the Scottish Government says that smoking is the direct cause of 16 per cent of all deaths in Scotland and kills two in every three long-term smokers.
VPZ, the UK’s leading vaping retailer, called for an outright ban on smoking in a bid to transform the health of the nation on National No Smoking Day.
The specialist petitioned the Scottish Government for a ban on smoking and a progressive strategy for vaping that it says will be fundamental in meeting the nation’s 2034 Smoke Free ambition – however, the Scottish Government has yet to respond and has not published the petition.
Ex-footballer Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock is an ambassador for the campaign and smoked 20 cigarettes a day before quitting through vaping. The former Spurs and Liverpool player spoke alongside campaigners outside of the Scottish Parliament on March 9th.
He said: “As a former smoker myself I know the impact that it can have on your health.
“It’s alarming that smoking rates have continued to rise during the Pandemic - it is having a huge impact on the nation’s health and placing a lot of financial and operational pressure on the NHS.
“If we are going to meet our smoke-free ambitions we need some radical thinking and to develop a timeline for banning smoking completely, as well as a strategy for vaping which has already helped over 3million people quit smoking.”
Researchers at King’s College London found vaping to be a more effective treatment than nicotine replacement therapy for stopping smoking.
A further report from the Royal College of Physicians Tobacco Advisory Group backs vaping as an effective treatment for tobacco dependency and recommends that it should be included and encouraged in all treatment pathways. The report also found that the long-term impact of vaping is 95 per cent less harmful than smoking cigarettes.
To date, Edinburgh-based VPZ has already helped over 700k smokers in the UK quit since it was established in 2012.
VPZ believes the Scottish Government needs to be progressive and show bravery to develop a timeline to ban smoking completely and meet our 2034 smoke free ambitions. The retailer insists that vaping is fundamental to meeting this target.
The Scottish Government’s consultation on the promotion and advertisement of vaping products presents an opportunity to develop a progressive strategy for vaping, according to VPZ director Doug Mutter.
He said: “As the UK’s leading vaping specialist, we are spearheading the fight against the nation’s number one killer – smoking.
“The recent rise in smoking rates is public health tragedy and we are currently set to miss our Smoke Free ambitions by at least two decades.
“We need clear action by the Scottish Government to show the bravery it had when it was the first country in the UK to ban smoking in enclosed public spaces in March 2006.
“We have petitioned the Scottish Government calling for an outright ban on smoking and a progressive strategy for vaping and it is a disappointing that we have been met by silence and the petition has yet to be published.
“Vaping will be fundamental to us working towards a complete ban on smoking and we are calling for a progressive plan for vaping that builds on the success of this transformative smoking cessation strategy.
“The current consultation on the promotion of vaping products brings this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity into sharper focus and we strongly believe that there should be advertising to promote and educate on the public health benefits of vaping.
“We continue to reach out to health policy makers on this and welcome positive engagement and dialogue to help shape a strategy that will transform the health of the nation.”
VPZ has also revealed that it will take its successful Vape Clinic Service on tour throughout the country as part of its plans to help even more people quit smoking.
The vape clinic provides a dedicated one-to-one service to help smokers quit. VPZ specialists are trained and have expert knowledge, they work to the individual needs of the customer and many of its specialists are former smokers.
VPZ will now take the mobile vape clinic on tour across its 150-store retail footprint, engaging with smokers and educating on the benefits of switching to vaping.
References:
- VPZ - https://vpz.co.uk/
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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