LetteRs and comment
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‘e-cigarettes are a game changer!
clients do not have to increase their
stress levels by trying to quit an
often very entrenched habit, but
simply switch to using something
that is hugely less harmful.’
Smoke without fire
Having worked in this sector for over
ten years it never ceases to amaze me
how little attention is paid to smoking
cessation. Every drug and alcohol
service is instantly recognisable by the
small huddle of smokers near the door,
and these are the professionals
working there! Clients smoking is
something that in my experience is
hardly ever addressed, despite the huge
health risks associated with it. The
rationale is that our job is to work with
clients to tackle their primary addiction
to drugs and alcohol, and that trying to
stop smoking could jeopardise
tentative first steps to recovery.
That is why e-cigarettes are a
game changer! Clients do not have to
increase their stress levels by trying to
quit an often very entrenched habit,
but simply switch to using something
that is hugely less harmful. This is why
I was interested to read Professor Neil
McKeganey’s article in May’s DDN
magazine on the relatively low uptake
of e-cigarette use, and the
misconceptions around how harmful
they are compared to normal
cigarettes. This is despite PHE stating
that vaping was 95 less harmful than
smoking. McKeganey states that
alongside confusion and dislike of the
paraphernalia, this has led to only
around 15 per cent of smokers
switching.
10 | drinkanddrugsnews | June 2017
I think it is our duty to encourage
clients to try to switch to vaping, and
ensure that they are aware of the facts
and have access to the equipment. We
could even be handing out free e-
cigarettes and allowing clients to use
them in services! By doing this we will
be improving their health and wealth,
which all goes towards a successful
sustainable recovery.
Lucy Phillips, via email.
No StickiNg plaSter
In response to ‘The emperor’s new
clothes’, (DDN, May, p19): People do not
‘recover’ from childhood trauma,
entrenched behaviour and mental
illness just by sticking a methadone or
subutex script in front of them.
Without long-term investment in
proven therapeutic interventions that
work with clients where they are at in
that long, long recovery journey we will
continue to see an increase in drug
related deaths and low successful
outcomes. I have worked in substance
misuse for 20 years and services have
got less client focused and less
accessible to tho