Vapers welcome recognition of vaping in new stop smoking guidelines
The majority of Ireland’s 200,000 vapers have quit smoking
Without vaping, national smoking figures could be as high as 25% of adults
Vapers in Ireland welcomed the Government’s new National Clinical Guidelines to stop smoking, which for the first time recognise that vaping is helping people quit cigarettes and commits to helping smokers who want to quit through vaping.
Joe Dunne, founder of Respect Vapers, said that government agencies are finally starting to listen to the experiences of the thousands of people who tried everything to quit cigarettes and finally stopped by vaping.
“The Healthy Ireland Survey 2021 reported that 18% of Irish adults (aged 15+ years) currently smoke. That’s a welcome reduction from the previous years. I am pleased that Minister for Public Health, Well Being and National Drugs Strategy, Frank Feighan TD said that we must use all the interventions available to support people to quit smoking and prevent smoking initiation.
“I ask the Minister and his colleagues to take on board the report’s finding that 38% of smokers use e-cigarettes to quit. Thankfully, almost 200,000 people have quit by vaping. Without this effective tool, Ireland could still have up to 25% of people smoking,” he said.
Respect Vapers noted that, in the Guidelines, the HSE offers to work with smokers who want to use vaping products to quit.
“We’d be delighted to assist the HSE with this programme. Vaping has a role to play in reducing the number of cigarette smokers in Ireland. 200,000 people can’t be wrong,” Joe Dunne said.
Vaping has been regulated in Ireland since 2014. The EU regulations adopted here, require all new products to be assessed and approved by the HSE. Like sprays, patches and gums promoted by the Government, there are strict limits on the level of nicotine in the products.
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