Vapers who struggle to quit need NHS support

FORMER smokers who are struggling to quit vaping should be given support, a drugs expert has said.

Adam Winstock, a consultant psychiatrist at University College London, said people should be given the same access to NHS services that are offered to regular smokers.

He also said vapers should view the activity as a transition to becoming totally free from nicotine, rather than simply a “substitute” for smoking tobacco.

While the long-term health risks of vaping are unknown, it is widely believed to be safer than smoking.

But Prof Winstock warned: “Because effectively you are delivering more nicotine when you are vaping, and there isn’t that same easy way of knowing how many vapes you’ve had a day compared with cigarettes, I think there will be some people who will continue, and possibly escalate, their nicotine dependence.”

He said smokers who switched to vapes should aim to quit within six months.