A proposal by Lambeth Council in London to offer vapes to pregnant smokers has hit the headlines!
It has made the Daily Mail, BBC News and The Sun. Plus the South London News has details of the scheme.
I have tried to find out more info on the Lambeth Council website but not seeing anything specific other than the usual Stop Smoking services?
What Help Is On Offer?
According to the media reports E-cigarettes will be offered through the Stop Smoking service to pregnant smokers to help them to quit.
Lambeth Councillor Ben Kind said the following…
“The council is soon to start providing free vape products, as part of the stop smoking service, to smokers who are pregnant and/or are carers of young children.
“This is aimed at improving the health of the family and saving money in the process of approximately £2,000 per year per family. It is estimated that over 3,000 households in Lambeth fall under the poverty line due to smoking and many of these households include children.”
Other than that the actual details are pretty vague. As I said there is nothing on the Lambeth Council website – there needs to be details of how people can apply and access this service.
As expected some of the news articles are putting a Negative spin on this – Professor Andrew Bush from Imperial College London’s National Heart and Lung Institute said that the council were “Playing with fire”…
‘E-cigarettes have not been around for a long time,’ he said.
‘We’re still learning about these things. I would be really, really worried about this as being yet one more step saying: ‘Okay, e-cigarettes are okay.’
‘I’m sure the council is doing it with the best of motives — they’re not in the pockets of the e-cigarette manufacturers.
‘But, what are you encouraging women to inhale? What’s the safety of these things?’
So all we can do is keep an eye out for further details.
I applaud the idea though if it will help more pregnant women quit the ciggies!
We have seen studies saying that Vaping is as safe as NRT (Nicotine Replacement Therapy – i.e. patches) so hopefully this will be the way forward!
A good summary of this important study on #vaping in pregnancy pic.twitter.com/qGWPWmfyTF
— Colin Mendelsohn (@ColinMendelsohn) May 17, 2022