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** 03 April 2020
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** UK
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** Vape shops should be labelled essential, says Stockton North MP (#1)
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** Links of the week
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** BBC One HealthCheck: Smoking and vaping (#2)
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** Quit for Covid (#3)
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** UK
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Alex Cunningham, MP for Stockton North, has called on the Government to label ‘vape shops’ as essential, to support smokers wanting to use the products to help them quit and so that people who have quit smoking can better access vaping products.
‘Vape shops’ should be treated as essential to help make sure ex-smokers do not turn back to tobacco products, he wrote in a letter to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick.
The Government has exempted off-licenses which primarily sell alcohol from having to close, and tobacco products are still widely available in all types of supermarkets. While some supermarkets and off-licences also sell e-cigarettes and e-liquids they tend to be stocked in smaller amounts than in specialist vape shops, which have been identified as non-essential. There are concerns that any supply issues with e-liquids could cause people to turn back to tobacco.
Vape shops have been increasingly popular with people attempting to quit smoking and those who have successfully stopped smoking tobacco, but now ex-smokers are forced to try and find e-liquids in smaller shops, or order them online – yet many people do not and cannot shop online, and there are notices on website alerting customers of delays in shipping.
In his letter to the Secretary of State, Alex Cunningham said: “Although an extra few days wait for the liquids may not seem like much, it is enough time for someone to choose the available option of cigarettes rather than not have having nicotine products for several days. As long as these shops are following the rules on social distancing, and operating strict procedures like other shops are doing, we should ensure that people can still pick the healthier option in life, including with e-cigarettes.”
Source: The Northern Echo, 3 April 2020
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Read Article ([link removed])
** Links of the week
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**
Hazel Cheeseman, Director of Policy at ASH and Dr Nick Hopkinson, Reader in Respiratory Medicine at Imperial College London and Chair of ASH, appear on BBC One’s HealthCheck to discuss what smoking does to the lungs and how vaping can help people quit.
See Nick at 09:14: [link removed]
See Hazel at 25:42: [link removed]
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ASH and partners have launched the ‘Quit for Covid’ campaign to encourage smokers to stop smoking to reduce their risk from coronavirus. This includes a daily Twitter ‘Quit Clinic’ from 7.30 - 8.30pm, where people can put their questions to leading smoking cessation expert Louise Ross. This is part of our #QuitForCovid work which you can find more information about at www.todayistheday.co.uk
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