E cigarettes on prescription

Very very bad move
a) you are just swapping one addiction for another
b) they are not innocent of additives etc
c) NHS can’t handle all the real diseases let alone any additions
d) e ciggs don’t stop people smoking they just change the item you use

I agree Calmlocket, taxpayers should not be forced to pay for e-cigarettes for smokers. If smokers wish to try them to help them quit they work out much cheaper than cigarettes so no additional incentive is required.
I also foresee long term health problems from e-cigarettes so they are laying the health service wide open to legal action in the future over prescribing unsafe products.

And they won't allow medical cannabis which has real benefits

Thé NHS have been prescribing an older type of ecig for some years, along with nicotine patches, sprays and gum, so it’s not really new, just newer products. I don’t get my ecig on prescription I buy it. At the moment, evidence is that smoking one of these is infinitely preferable, healthier, that normal cigarettes, time will tell.
I suppose some would also object to the weight watchers referral system, subsidised by the local Primary Care Trust.
I think both schemes are aimed at being preventative.

Each person that switches will save the NHS money. Unless you load your e-cigarette with drugs they do seem to be a lot less dangerous to your health & therefore less costly for the NHS. One aim of the scheme is to save the NHS money in the long run.

Previous schemes have provided a prescription for a certain length of time - I guess to get people going on them so they make the switch.

My husband has almost given up completely by using a vape thing. He has cut down on nicotine over a period of three years and it is noticeable how little he actually uses it now. He buys his own stuff but presumably it may help those who don't have the financial means to have a safe route available to them as I understand not all of these products are safe and regulated

People have a choice about all kinds of things.
Drinking.
Sports. (Seen many a programme where horse riders need air lifting to hospital and months and months of treatment)
Taking medication to help with mental health issues; also seen plenty who choose not to.
It's a slippery slope to start deciding who should and shouldn't be helped and how.

Anything that can help smoking surely has to be a good thing. The medical problems that can arise after years of smoking are many and, of course, expensive to treat.

Not totally sure about the use of vapes. In moderation I'm sure they are better than cigarettes however people tend to use them a lot more. Friend of mine gave up a 10 a day cigarette habit but now I never see her without her vape in her mouth. She uses it constantly. Can't be good.

Happy medium of course but I think the prescription, on the whole, will be a good thing. Smokers have paid an awful lot of tax thanks to their habit so maybe the NHS can stretch to helping them out as well.

As MissAdventure points out, an awful lot of illnesses/injuries are self inflicted and we can't start denying treatment because someone is an alcoholic/smoker/sportsman etc etc

If you can afford cigarettes you can afford your own vape
As a smoker myself I hate vaping but it's my choice

I think this is a very bad decision given that nicotine patches are an effective alternative and don't affect others, I have lung issues and get breathless and my chest tightens near people smoking e-cigs. We don't know the effects on children (both from adults smoking and from teens trying it) and there must be times when people with Covid or ther viruses are blowing out vape. In my view e cigs should not be 'normalised' especially when there are better alternatives. Recent studies (including a Spanish one reported last week) show that while both ecigs and nicotine patches can decrease cigarette smoking many more people are still using ecigs after 6 months than those who used nicotine patch users.

No, definitely not, if you can afford to smoke you can afford to vape.

It sounds more like a moral judgement than a practical one.

As OP says it’s simply swapping one addiction for another. It’s SUPPOSED to just be a means to actually stop smoking-not simply substitute another addiction which can’t be good for the lungs-they weren’t designed to take in steam were they?

www.gov.uk/government/news/vaping-better-than-nicotine-replacement-therapy-for-stopping-smoking-evidence-suggests

I agree with this decision. Smoking is an addiction, and causes long term health problems, it’s still the leading cause of preventable death in the UK. People smoke who can’t afford to, so it’s not a simple equation of if you can afford to smoke you can afford to vape, it’s more that if you can’t afford to smoke you would be tempted to try vaping as an alternative if it was free, bearing in mind the percentage of smokers is higher in poorer areas that will be a major consideration for people.

I’m sure Public Health have done a cost benefit analysis, and this will be an evidence based decision.

Totally disagree with this. As others have said, if you can afford cigarettes, you can afford to vape. If you're stupid enough to start smoking in the first place, why should the taxpayers have to fund this?

And if you're stupid enough to ski, ride a motorbike, drive a car, use an electric saw, ride a horse, mow your lawn. climb a mountain?
What then?

It is also open to fraud,meaning some unscrupulous people could sell them on,sadly that is the world we live in.
A bad idea all round.

I agree with you Calmlocket. If patients weren’t denied life saving drugs or treatments it would be a different matter, but as long as they are, then I can’t agree with this.

All prescriptions are open to fraud.
Methodone is regularly sold so that addicts can buy heroin.
Sleeping pills, tranquilisers, morphine.
They're all available to buy.

I recently had a chest x-ray (unrelated to smoking/vaping) and my lungs are clear. I have vaped for almost 8 years. So if there are long term effects, how long down the line are we talking about?
I tried the whole lot, to stop smoking, over a period of many years. Gum, patches, lozenges. Nothing worked except an e cigarette.

I am fairly certain that if I had continued smoking, I might well have had chest problems by now. But vaping, nothing.
Obviously I buy my own.

MissAdventure

And if you're stupid enough to ski, ride a motorbike, drive a car, use an electric saw, ride a horse, mow your lawn. climb a mountain?
What then?

Hardly the same thing, is it? The dangers of smoking have been well publicised for years.

Yes, and people have been smoking for longer.

If, in the long run, if it will save the NHS some money it has to be a good thing.
It’s a shame that it would be a service that some will abuse but that seems to happen with all prescriptions. How many of you know people who could afford to pay for their own body cream for their dry skin for example. I buy my own special shampoo for my psoriasis. You have to buy your shampoo why shouldn’t I?

I watched a health professional being interviewed this morning and it does seen to have been proven that vaping is very much less dangerous than smoking and less of a risk to others in the vicinity.
That has to be important especially around other members of a household inside the home.
When I gave up smoking many, many years ago I had a powerful incentive, I was pregnant. I just did it.
Some people in our society are living in very difficult circumstances (apart from financial) and giving up must be so hard.