Push to have British Global Positioning System prescribe e-cigarettes

In a review of evidence, PHE found that nearly all of the 2.6m e-cigarette users in Britain are current or former smokers. As it stands Global Positioning System and stop smoking services aren’t able to recommend use of e-cigarettes because they haven’t been approved for medicinal use, but it’s hoped that regulatory bodies will approve their use very soon.

E-cigarettes are 95 per cent less harmful to health than tobacco but many Merseysiders don’t know this.

And there is no evidence so far that children or non-smokers are using e-cigarettes as a route into smoking, according to the report.

Janet Martin, 61, from Blakelaw, who uses an e-cigarette said: “You hear horror stories about how bad these e-cigs are for you and how they can blow-up in your face”.

The study-which e-cigarette advocates suggested should go a long way in preventing harsh regulations in the UK and getting them instead used to help smokers quit-contradicts a 2014 report by the World Health Organization.

The study concluded that most of the harmful chemicals in tobacco are not found in e-cigarettes. However, the findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association stop short of showing that e-cigarettes cause teens to try other forms of tobacco, and scientists said more research is needed to explore any such link.

“The review also highlighted that there is no evidence that e-cigarettes are a pathway for people to start smoking”.

But she added: “The review doesn’t say there is no risk, rather that they should be seen as part of the harm reduction strategy for people who are smokers and want to quit”.

Each year, smoking-related diseases are blamed for around 80,000 deaths.

There have been many conflicting studies regarding e-cigarettes and whether they’re a much safer alternative to cigarettes, or whether they’re actually another kind of cancer stick.

“Smoking remains England’s number one killer and the best thing a smoker can do is stop smoking completely”. North Dakota, New Jersey and Utah all have restrictions on e-cigarettes.

It further states: “The safest option for people who have never smoked, or ex-smokers, is to not use e-cigarettes or tobacco-based cigarettes – don’t smoke and don’t vape”.

A director at Public Health England said this misperception “may be keeping millions of smokers from quitting”.