Calls have been made to do more to cut down on vaping in Blackpool after it was estimated three quarters of kids in schools in the area use e-cigarettes.
Coun Andrew Stansfield told a full meeting of the council vaping “was common in our schools” and warned the practise might lead onto more serious substance usage. He was commenting after it was reported a new programme to help individuals give up tobacco cigarettes was proving successful.
In Blackpool, the Community Stop Smoking Service assisted 289 people in giving up smoking in its first year (2021–2022), or 89% of the first-year target of 325, according to a council report. But Coun Stansfield said: “In my generation it was just smoking cigarettes but we have now got the extra concerns of opioids and vapes.
“We don’t know what long term damage vaping can do. Is this policy going to help some of these young individuals quit? It is rife in our classrooms. I would guess 75 per cent of students in school are using vapes.
“I’m not saying it will, but this is highly likely to lead onto other things whether it be tobacco or cannabis, or anything else. It needs to be looked at in the same approach to attempt to stop it.”
The Community Stop Smoking Service comprises clinics, home visits, telephone assistance and nicotine replacement products for persons trying to quit, with help available to people newly discharged from hospital. Patients with lung diseases are among those referred by the NHS, and 63% of these patients eventually succeeded in quitting smoking for four weeks.
A council report adds: “The community service also has aims to reach specific population groups with high prevalence of smoking.”
This includes the LGBTQ community where smoking rates are reported to be up to 50 per cent higher than the overall population. Smoking is one of the major dangers in Blackpool’s low life expectancy statistics, the report cautions.
According to the most recent statistics available, almost 23% of people in Blackpool smoke, compared to slightly under 14% of people in all of England. Smoking-related hospital admissions are also among the highest in the nation.
Ref: https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire-news/blackpools-school-vaping-problem-e-2509123.
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