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OUT OF HARM ’ S WAY
While smoking rates remain high among those with behavioural health issues , a new study examines how vaping could help reduce these numbers .
Words : Caroline Barry
W hile smoking rates are generally on the decline , there are some communities where the figures remain stubbornly high . In the US , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) estimates that one in four adults have some form of a behavioural health issue , and that they consume almost 40 percent of all cigarettes smoked .
The Tobacco Harm Reduction Research Project ( THRRP ), currently underway in San Francisco , examines how e-cigarettes along with patches , lozenges and snus could be used to reduce these numbers .
It allows participants to choose their quitting aid ( including e-cigarettes and medications such as Champix or snus ), combining this with education and counselling sessions . Project leader Kevin McGirr , a clinical professor at the University of California ’ s School of Nursing , has vast experience treating patients with behavioural health or substance issues .
He said : “ I wondered if we shouldn ’ t be applying harm reduction to those individuals given that they were not lining up in any significant way for smoking cessation programmes .
“ Despite the fact that San Francisco has been a leader in harm reduction approaches , there has been a weird antagonism to e-cigarettes . “ There was a lot of hysteria which evolved from young people using JUUL . As a result , the local board of supervisors legislated that electronic devices could not be sold or purchased in the city . While it ’ s illegal to buy or sell them , it ’ s okay to use them . This means you have to leave the city to purchase them .” The researchers used
NJOY e-cigarettes in the study because the company was an independent manufacturer with no links to big tobacco and its closed pod systems are both easy to use and difficult to tamper with . Professor McGirr added : “ We wanted to stay away from any products that might require more cognitive focus and manual dexterity when putting your device together . It also needed to be very difficult to manipulate the product to add crack or marijuana .”
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