Forest's response to Public Health England report on e-cigarettes

Wed 19th August, 2015

Forest has reacted cautiously to calls for e-cigarettes to be made available to smokers via the NHS.

Responding to a report by Public Health England, director Simon Clark said:

"We welcome the report but would question whether prescribing e-cigarettes on the NHS is a justifiable use of taxpayers' money.

"E-cigarettes have the potential to help smokers quit but promoting them as a state-approved smoking cessation aid ignores the fact that many people enjoy vaping in its own right and use e-cigs as a recreational not a medicinal product.

"Public health campaigners want to control people's behaviour. E-cigarettes have been successful because the consumer, not the state, is in charge.

"If they want more smokers to switch to e-cigarettes, public health campaigners should embrace consumer choice and oppose unnecessary restrictions on the sale, marketing and promotion of this potentially game-changing product."

See: Vaping: e-cigarettes safer than smoking, says Public Health England (Guardian), E-cigarettes 'should be prescribed on the NHS to cut smoking-related deaths' (Press Association), Health chiefs call for free e-cigarettes on the NHS (Daily Mail), The vape escape (The Sun)

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