The aim of the Leicester Mercury Campaign is to convince 200 smokers to cut off their smoking for good in the next 4 weeks. Last year, during the campaign, the Leicester City Council’s stop smoking service and the periodical Leicester Mercury helped 300 smokers kick the habit and their goal, this year is to touch as much as possible of the estimated remaining 54,700 smokers of the city.
In support of the periodical’s initiative, Leicester City GP Dr Paul Danaher, enthusiastic vaping advocate, said he would accompany his volunteer patients and propose them to do so with the help of e-cigarettes. He successfully helped 70 smokers quit smoking this way, last year.
As quoted by the Leicester Mercury, Dr Danaher said: “Information from Public Health England states that using e-cigs is 95 per cent safer than smoking tobacco.”
He also told the periodical: “The e-cig helps people with the habit of putting something in their mouth which nicotine replacement gums and patches do not do. The other advantage is that the liquids come in different strengths of nicotine so people can wean themselves off it by gradually reducing the strength.”
With this initiative, Danaher wants to give an impulsion to his colleagues, some of them still being reluctant to prescribe e-cigarettes; according to him: “Some doctors have an aversion to any ongoing addiction but using e-cigs is similar to making clean needles available to drug users.”
Let’s hope that with the evidence provided by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), today, that vaping helps wean smokers off tobacco, Danaher’s challenge will be taken up by other practitioners and the whole Leicester Mercury Campaign will be successful.
