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Vaping association welcomes new smoking cessation guide

UK Vaping Industry Association
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UK Vaping Industry Association, the UK’s largest trade association for the vaping sector in the UK, has welcomed the publication of a new NCSCT e-guide produced to help UK smoking cessation teams to incorporate vaping into their services.

National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training has published a guide following government health watchdog’s announcement that e-cigarettes should now be offered to smokers alongside other nicotine replacement therapies such as gums and patches.


John Dunne, Director General of the UKVIA, said, “The last 12 months has seen vaping embraced by the healthcare sector like never before, which is a huge leap forward when it comes to harm reduction.

“We are in favour of any new resource that encourages smoking cessation teams to incorporate vaping into their services which is why in September we developed a ‘healthcare hub’ for our website with an accompanying downloadable guide shared across the NHS.”

Months ago with the cooperation of leading smoking cessation experts and doctors, the UKVIA published its own guide to help clinicians and those involved in stop smoking services after the NHS revealed it was trialing giving e-cigarettes to smokers attending some A&E departments and the Department for Health said it would look at prescribing vape devices on the NHS.

Since then the Association has written to over 300 NHS Trusts signposting them to the guide and offering expert insights into helping patients who smoke to transition from combustible tobacco to vaping, as well as partnering with the world’s largest stop smoking support app, Smoke Free, with over 6 million downloads worldwide.

The NCSCT’s guide can be found here.

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A whopping ninety-one per cent of respondents to a survey conducted by the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) called for more police patrols on streets, while a similar number - 90 per cent - said that shoplifters should be handed harsher sentences.

Seven out of 10 respondents (72 per cent) said their stores had experienced shoplifting, break ins and damage to property, while they and their staff had been physically or verbally threatened.

Just under half of respondents (47 per cent) said they and their employees had been threatened or had suffered abuse and violence when asking for proof of age ahead of selling an age-restricted product.

Forty-four per cent reported that they and their staff had faced abuse or violence because they had refused to make a proxy sale – selling an age restricted product to a customer buying for a minor.

The results of the Fed’s survey came as new figures from the Office of National Statistics revealed that shoplifting was at a record high, with almost half a million offences recorded last year.

According to the ONS, 469,788 offences were logged by forces in the year to June 2024 – a 29 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.

The ONS added that this figure was the highest since records began – in March 2003.

“Inadequate responses from the police and a slap on the wrist for offenders means that shoplifting is soaring, and offenders are becoming more aggressive and brazen,” said Fed National President Mo Razzaq.

“From the responses we received, it is clear that real action is needed by police, by courts and by the government to stem the overwhelming tide of crime against retailers and their staff. Everyone deserves to feel safe at work and for their businesses to be protected against criminals.

“Fed members are also sending a clear message that one of the catalysts for verbal and physical abuse in stores is asking for proof of age before selling an age restricted product. If the government presses ahead with its plans to phase out smoking and vaping through a progressive ban to gradually end the sale of tobacco products across the country, independent retailers will be subject to even greater levels of violence, abuse and theft.”

Calling for action from the government and not just words, Mr Razzaq continued: “Without effective deterrent, criminals and opportunistic members of the public will continue to commit crimes.”

According to Ministry of Justice statistics, during the year to March 2024, 431 fines were handed out for retail theft under £100, while Home Office statistics for the same period show that 2,252 cautions were accepted for shoplifting.

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