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UK smokers 'need more help' to quit
Not enough is being done in the UK to help smokers who can't give up, according to the Royal College of Physicians (RCP).
The charity says that the nicotine in cigarettes is not especially harmful, but that it is 'powerfully addictive', preventing many smokers from successfully kicking the habit.
Speaking at the launch of a new report 'Harm Reduction in Nicotine Addiction: Helping people who can't quit', Professor John Britton, chair of the RCP Tobacco Advisory Group said that more could be done to save lives.
'Smokers smoke because they are addicted to nicotine, but it isn't nicotine in cigarette smoke that kills: it's the hundreds of other toxic chemicals that come with it,' he said.
The report calls for reform to the market for nicotine products, which is at present heavily regulated. The RCP says that it wants to see smokers offered safer sources of nicotine that make 'acceptable and effective' cigarette substitutes.
'There are millions of smokers who can't quit, or else who are unlikely to quit, and those people need nicotine products that can satisfy their addiction without killing them,' Professor Britton added.
Category: Healthy Lifestyle
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