E cigarettes on prescription

Blondiescot

*MadeInYorkshire*, prescriptions are free here in Scotland, another reason why I would object to vapes being given on prescription. I repeat - anyone who can afford to smoke can afford to buy their own.

Blondiescot It doesn't really matter how you put it, I can't afford to do it - but then when your life changes and you become unable to work you actually can't afford to do much at all, especially when the local authority try to charge you nearly £200 a week for a wash! I also do without other things like heat and food, going out anywhere, clothes, holidays, and any sort of social life .... as I can't afford those either and am often too unwell (through no fault of my own I might add ... ) so as it is the one thing I have left, I would rather sit in garden and have a peaceful smoke.

Ridiculous I know

It does seem utterly ridiculous to me, but then for the life of me I can't understand why anyone starts smoking in the first place!

My daughter, disabled and with learning difficulties smokes around 20 a day she lives on benefits and a very small private pension. I have for some time been trying to cut her down to 10 a day but what ever I do I have no luck. I manage all her money through POA as she is not capable. It has got to the point where smoking is unaffordable for her and just won’t change to vape or have help giving up smoking. So just how do you stop people smoking unless they want to and if they really wanted to they could buy their own vapes, I don’t believe the NHS should pay for It. I have solved the problem for my daughter and as hard as it may seem I have cut her off from being able to buy cigarettes.

In the US doctors have discovered a disease called popcorn lung that they say is the result of certain types of Ecig. Hopefully not the ones the NHS are going to give out. Hope they at least put them on prescription so they have to pay.

I am furious because essential drugs have been taken off the NICE list yet we pander to smokers. Waste of NHS resources and an insult to tax payers. Smoking is a lifestyle choice. If you can afford to smoke you can afford to vape. I am a clean living person who goes to the gymn, doesn't drink, walks alot rather than use their car, but until I retired I had to pay for my asthma meds! I resent this move terribly. Pandering to people who bring their illness on with their lifestyle.

Another waste of NHS resources.

My DH smoked roll ups for 40 years, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and to my surprise decided to switch to a vape, its taken him 4 years of cutting down to now be vaping on zero. I think the actual vape could be on prescription for people with low incomes to help them start off

songstress60

I am furious because essential drugs have been taken off the NICE list yet we pander to smokers. Waste of NHS resources and an insult to tax payers. Smoking is a lifestyle choice. If you can afford to smoke you can afford to vape. I am a clean living person who goes to the gymn, doesn't drink, walks alot rather than use their car, but until I retired I had to pay for my asthma meds! I resent this move terribly. Pandering to people who bring their illness on with their lifestyle.

I think you are missing the point. The proposal to prescribe E cigarettes is an attempt to switch smokers to vaping, with the end result of saving money for the NHS.
You seem to be implying that all illnesses brought about by poor lifestyle choices shouldn't be treated. Obesity, alcoholism, drug use. Some of these conditions are related to upbringing and living conditions which are either out of a person's control or directly related to poverty and social problems.
Or should only 'clean living' people like yourself have access to medical treatment? Where is the line to be drawn? I'm sure you must be a more reasonable person than this.

How patronising of Blondiescot to call smokers stupid.
Yes it can be addictive and I wouldn't encourage anyone to start smoking (I've actually said to young people if I've seen them, stop now while you can.)
Do you drink by any chance? Smoking only affects me, whereas in drinking it can (at times) turn people violent and antisocial. I can still have, say 6 cigarettes, and drive a car safely - can't say the same for someone who has had a few drinks.
If the government really wanted people to stop smoking to help their health and the NHS they would ban them - but oh no they just keep putting the prices up as they get far too much tax on them and if they banned them where would all that extra money come from?
If I want to stop smoking I would get my own alternatives but I actually enjoy it (only bad habit I have). By the way I had good qualifications and a very good job so don't consider myself stupid thank you.

Working in a pharmacy for many years, we saw that people used the nicotine replacement products to cut back the cost of their cigarettes. They couldn’t afford their addiction to cigarettes and used the nhs smoking cessation service to cut back, with no real interest in stopping smoking. There always was a time limit and I hope that time wasters won’t be tolerated.

The medics I worked with in the NHS didn't think they were the answer to stopping smoking. People just swap cigarettes for vaping. I don't agree with the NHS money going to this. Smokers need to look at themselves and make their own decisions and their own steps should they want to quit.

Absolutely agree Calmlocket.
I gave up smoking 18 years ago when my Dad was diagnosed with Empysemia and COPD, I had no help, no patches or gum, just my fear of becoming ill was enough for me to throw away my cigarettes.
People are unable to get life saving drugs, or even standard medication so that should be the priority, not smokers who,
if they can afford approx £10 per packet of 20 cigarettes, then they can afford to pay for the e cigarettes or other means to help them quit.

LesLee7 - what else would you call taking up a habit which you know is very very likely to either kill you or damage your health? I'm genuinely baffled as to why anyone wants to start smoking in the first place. 'Here, stick this in your mouth and set it on fire'??
And don't start with the peer pressure thing either. That's just a cop-out.
Oh, and by the way, no, I don't drink either.

So people who gave up used to be stupid, but having done it all on their own (fanfare of trumpets) are now intelligent?
That's a really rational argument.

I can’t decide on the right road, in this instance. My parents smoked, and I can see it’s hard to stop. I wonder if early education is targeted in the right way. When I was a supply teacher, I was asked to discuss the dangers of smoking with a year six class, then they were to make a poster highlighting the dangers to health. I duly did the ‘ talk ‘ but took it a step further. I produced a ten pound note, and a lit match, and asked if I should burn the note. Of course, there was a chorus of ‘ no’s ‘. I explained that smoking was like burning £10 for every packet. We then looked at the cost of a packet of twenty cigarettes, and if you smoked that every day, how much would you spend in a week, month and a year. Next, what could we do with the money saved if you didn’t spend it on cigarettes. They had plenty of suggestions. I had to apologise to their class teacher later, as hardly any of their posters highlighted the health hazards of smoking, instead, were advertising the savings to be made if you didn’t, or stopped, and all the wonderful things you could do with the money! I’ve often wondered if, from an educational angle, that might be the way to go.

Having stopped smoking after a particular bad chest infection, threw the rest of the cigarettes away, and have never smoked since. Have seen patients on nictotine patches, still smoking. The loss of important drugs and non free prescriptions for life threatening illness such as Asthma, these are what the NHS and Nice should be prioritising. Not free vapes , or if it goes ahead, people should be monitored through the smoking cessation clinic, blood test will show any nicotine in the blood, and they should be then taken off the programme. Not a free for all , and prescription charge should still apply. Suppose though if it’s not free people won’t take up the offer, but can scrape up money for fags. I’m angry about this because can see it will be abused, more money up the wall from the NHS.

Lots of nhs services are abused.
"I'm anxious! My anxiety is so bad I can't function".

"Oh, poor you. Do you have medication that could be tweaked?"

"Oh no. I don't like the thought of taking pills".

MayBee70

Isn’t champix the stuff that makes you really sick if you light up? The only thing that stopped me was having my first grandchild. I didn’t want him exposed to nicotine on my breath or clothes. I used to do a stop smoking hypnotism tape, wake up and have a cigarette. Halfway through a cigarette I’d be thinking about the next one. The addiction was terrifying. Even the people helping you to stop, if they’ve never smoked themselves, don’t understand how difficult it is to do so.

No Maybee it doesn’t make you sick, but there is something that works like that, can’t remember the name.
With Champix you actually continue to smoke for the first week but then you gradually lose the desire to smoke. After the first week you just stop smoking and after that it’s just the habit that you have to break, you don’t actually want the cigarette. I used to have what I call an “air cigarette” which was just holding my fingers around an imaginary cig and taking a suck if air. That satisfied the habit and after a couple of weeks I didn’t even do that.
Been free if the weed for six years now after nearly fifty on the terrible habit.

Vaping helped my son to give smoking, he doesn't smoke or vape now.

Oh dear, what a lot of iliberal views there are on here.
Most of us will have made decisions in our lives that are irrational: that's the nature of being human. When I decide to go hill walking in a tricky situation - perhaps big drops on each side - some people would say that its silly. But the nature of humans is to push bundaries, however irrational.
Young peope, start smoking for many reasons I'm sure, and then when they want to stop they can't. We need to treat it, and drugs, as a medical condition, and this is a way to help.

Blondiescot

LesLee7 - what else would you call taking up a habit which you know is very very likely to either kill you or damage your health? I'm genuinely baffled as to why anyone wants to start smoking in the first place. 'Here, stick this in your mouth and set it on fire'??
And don't start with the peer pressure thing either. That's just a cop-out.
Oh, and by the way, no, I don't drink either.

And don't start with the peer pressure thing either. That's just a cop-out.
Oh, and by the way, no, I don't drink either.

.......... really, how surprising, I don't suppose you do!

It's what you did in my day, and it wasn't as known as it is now that it is so additive and harmful. I too am intelligent, educated and my health issues are absolutely nothing to do with smoking, although yes, they probably will be at some point, but in the meantime I enjoy that bit of peace that they give me from the dreadful thoughts I have about my life and my future, which is quite frankly bloody miserable. We've all got to die of something, just wish it was sooner.

The dangers of smoking have been known - and publicised - for many years now, so that's hardly an excuse. And 'it's what you did in my day', well no-one held a gun to your head and forced you to put that cigarette in your mouth. Like I said, that's merely a cop-out.
As for the dig about me not drinking, you have no idea of my reasons for that. FYI, I can't drink alcohol - for medical reasons, not that I should have to justify it to you or anyone else.

Agree, disagree, it's of little consequence.
E cigs will be prescribed, presumably by people who have more knowledge than any of us.

My husband smoked a pipe for many years and I told him I couldn't afford it any longer,he put holes in everything he was near!He took to an e.cigarette no holes in anything, no smoky ceilings and even better for me no smoke round me.All prescriptions are liable to be misused,I take a very powerful painkiller which drug dealers sell regularly.Cigarettes were a very glamorous thing years ago and were advertised everywhere,it's much easier to start smoking than stop,so anything that helps stop is a good thing surely
cigarette

i was a 60 a day smoker, constantly had friends and family telling me not to. i gave up when i wanted to, i have been vaping for the last four years, you can buy a vape kit for a fiver and oil for a pound from poundland, this is cheaper than patches, my vape is more a comfort thing. i would rather the nhs gave people these than had to treat them for a number of problems, like one person said, us smokers paid enough in tax when buying our cigs. for info...my vape habit costs me about £20 per month and that suits me for help with a number of mental and physical illnesses.