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Vaping now features on the Government’s stop smoking website.

Growing public interest in vaping to help stop smoking has led the HSE to include a section on it on its quit.ie website.

Although the HSE has not gone as far as to recommend it as an aid to quitting yet, its inclusion on their website has been welcomed by those pushing for it to be recognised as an aid to quit.

It comes just a couple of weeks after the Oireachtas announced it has commissioned a report into vaping and e-cigs.

This is a further indication that the public debate on vaping is moving up a notch.

Advocates say that it is a huge help to those looking to give up the dreaded fags, but there also those who are more wary of the possibly unknown side effects of the relatively new technology.

E-cigarettes and all of the variations on vaping contain none of the dangerous toxins in tobacco, such as tar, but they do contain other chemicals.

They are not regulated by Government at the moment and Minister for Health Simon Harris is adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach to the whole area.

Cigarette manufacturers are seeing the writing on the wall for tobacco eventually and the smart ones are moving away from producing cigarettes and towards vape products.

Simon Carroll, General Manager of well-known Irish cigarette makers PJ Carroll said: “PJ Carroll welcomes the decision to include information about vaping on Quit.ie.

(Image: Getty)

“According to recent research in the New England Journal of Medicine, e-cigarettes are almost twice as effective as nicotine replacement treatments at helping smokers to quit, so it’s important that smokers have up to date information on the latest tools to stop smoking.

“Vaping is an integral part of the UK’s stop smoking strategy, and this has resulted in their smoking rates plummeting to just 15.1% - compared to 20% in Ireland.

“If Ireland could replicate the UK’s success, there could be potentially 200,000 fewer smokers in this country, which is why we support embracing e-cigarettes as a quitting tool.”

The HSE now gives basic advice about what vaping is on its quit.ie website and offers assistance to those who might want to use e-cigs to quit.

The site states: “Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) use batteries to heat up nicotine, water and propylene glycol or glycerine with flavourings.

“This creates a vapour that lets you inhale nicotine without smoking or using tobacco.

“This is known as ‘vaping’. E-cigarettes are still fairly new, so we don’t yet know how safe they are or if they help people stop smoking.

“Because of this, we don’t recommend e-cigarettes to help you quit smoking. It is better to use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).

“NRT is safe and doubles your chance of quitting successfully. You can also get prescription treatments to help you quit smoking.

“People using NRT and prescription treatments together to quit smoking can increase their chances of success by more than 3 and a half times.

“If you want to stop smoking, we can help. If you’re already using an e-cigarette to help you stop smoking, we can also help.

“If you’re worried about e-cigarettes, contact one of our trained advisors.”