Scouse Free Vapes Increased
The provision of free vapes to help smokers in Liverpool quit has been increased, according to Knowsley Council
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by Dave Cross
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The provision of free vapes to help smokers in Liverpool quit has been increased, according to Knowsley Council. Such has been the success of the 'Swap to Stop' scheme in helping adults move away from tobacco use, the project is being expanded to help even more Scouse smokers switch from smoking to ‘95% safer’ vaping.
Knowsley Council say that no one who isn’t currently a smoker or vaper should be using vape products but adds that it is an ideal route for current smokers to escape their addiction.
The Council points to the most recent report from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (formerly Public Health England). The report states:
- In the short and medium term, vaping poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking
- The evidence reviewed suggests there is significantly lower exposure to harmful substances from vaping compared with smoking, as shown by biomarkers associated with the risk of cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular conditions
- The evidence reviewed suggests there is no significant increase of toxicant biomarkers after short-term secondhand exposure to vaping among people who do not smoke or vape
Importantly, especially at the moment when the government will be considering the new Tobacco and Vapes Bill, the report notes: “Fruit flavours remained the most popular among adults”.
When the report was released, Professor Caitlin Notley said: “The latest evidence review confirms that vaping is substantially less harmful than continuing to smoke tobacco. Reassuringly, the evidence shows that people who switch away from smoking to vaping are exposed to fewer toxic chemicals that may cause disease in later life.”
Dr Jamie Hartmann-Boyce added: “People who have switched from smoking to vaping should feel reassured that in doing so, they are likely to have improved their health. People who still smoke should switch completely to vaping.”
Knowsley’s Stop Smoking provision says that it has been vape friendly from last year, considerably behind the likes of Leicester – but still welcome.
Knowsley Council is now looking to co-opt support from agencies with direct access to the most high-risk community groups, using those partnerships to drive down smoking in disadvantaged groups.
The council acknowledges that smoking rates in its deprived areas rank among the highest across the entire country, resulting in the highest levels of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mortality rates and the second highest for lung and oral cancers.
Sarah McNulty, Knowsley Council’s Assistant Executive Director for Public Health, said: “Stopping smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health. Even if you’ve tried before and didn’t manage to quit, don’t give up on quitting because you can do it. Many smokers try several times before they succeed. Quitting is easier with the right support and Knowsley’s stop smoking service offers specialist support for Knowsley residents to quit smoking.”
References:
- Smokefree Knowsley - www.smokefreeknowsley.org.uk
Photo Credit:
Photo by Matt Forfar on Unsplash
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.
