Homeless People To Receive Vape Kits To Help Them Quit Smoking

Homeless people are set to receive free vape supplies in a big to help them stop smoking.

The campaign, led by London South Bank University and supported by seven other universities, is the first of its kind in the world to look at tobacco addiction in homeless people and whether vaping could be a path out of this addiction.

According to their research, 70 per cent of people without a home smoke, which is orders of magnitude higher than the 14.1 per cent of people in the UK as a whole.

Whilst vaping is a very popular method used to help quit smoking, the initial cost of investment can be more than many homeless people can afford.

The study, which will take place in 32 homelessness centres around Scotland, Wales, London, the East and South East of England, will see if providing a starter kit for free, containing a coil, batteries, liquid tank, charging cable and e-liquid would be a way to combat this.

A pilot study led by Professor Lynne Dawkins, worked well and was found to be beneficial for the homeless participants, and the hope is that these results can be extended further.

To this end, the National Institute for Health Research provided a grant worth £1.7m to widen the trial’s scope.

Half of the centres will provide the usual types of care to help homeless people quit smoking, whilst the other 16 will supply vaping equipment.

The hope is that the investment into helping people avoid the major health concerns caused by tobacco addiction would be effective at helping people to quit and lower the strain on the NHS.