e cigarettes on the national health?

Presumably the theory is that it would still save the NHS money because they wouldn't be treating people with smoking-related diseases.

37 Stone people can Buy food they still get free Meds and Treatment  ?? ur PC mob will Kick off if the Smokers Have to pay

ASTOUNDING suggestion.

Some of us find somebody blowing a bloody great cloud of whatever it is, from an oversized  metal tube as, if not even more, ant-social behaviour.

Just STOP smoking ... It is ONLY willpower after all.

But it is, of course, the weak-willed who want  everything doing FOR them.

It's being accepted as the HEALTHY option for smokers but as onlooker points out this suits ""the weak-willed who want  everything doing FOR them."

Anyone with any sense whatsoever can see these types are just swapping one addiction for another under the guise of this being healthier which will likely be proven rubbish time will tell.

How can anyone suggest pushing these on the NHS when funding for UNAVOIDABLE illnesses is sometimes not there yet the SELF ABUSING WEAK can get everything for free

They keep telling us the NHS is strapped for cash, while dreaming up fresh ways to spend money that they haven't got.

I can see all those who qualify for free kits, selling them to those that don't.

They shouldn't be necessary on the NHS.
You can buy a full vape kit which would last for months for less than the cost of 1 week's cigarettes.

They've given out patches for years. I'd guess this would be a cheaper alternative really. You can pick vapes up for as little as a fiver retail, so they might get them for a pound each.

I don't think many smokers would bother arranging/going to an appointment just to get a free vape. It wouldn't be worth their time. I suppose Doctors could end up giving them out like lollipops though. 'Do you smoke? Then take one of these with you'.

No doubt a Contract will be Sorted out Where someone makes Millions

What we can pick up kit for, and what the NHS would end up paying for one are two very different things.

The NHS pay through the nose for everything, as does the rest of the public sector and we don't have to look for for the answer to that.

Yes that's more like it casemoney.

Smokers apparently cost the NHS about 4 or 5 billion a year. Although it's probably less as even non-smokers will cost the NHS some of that even if they stop. Unless we all suddenly become immortal.

What they never say is this (found online - even if it's wrong, which I doubt, it's not THAT wrong)

The tax, both excise duty and VAT, raised through the sale of tobacco products continues to be a major source of revenue for the Government, contributing around £12 billion annually.  This is, according to the Treasury, equivalent to more than 2 pence on the basic rate of income tax or over 11 pence on the top rate of income tax.

On a typical pack of 20 cigarettes the total tax burden of £6.98 accounts for 82% of the recommended retail price (RRP) of £8.50. On some of the least expensive brands the total tax burden accounts for up to 90% of the RRP.

It has been the policy of successive Governments to maintain a high level of tax on tobacco products in order to reduce tobacco consumption and the prevalence of smoking.  Between 1993 and 2000 a tobacco duty ‘escalator’, which introduced year-on-year above inflation increases in tobacco duty, was implemented with the aim of reducing consumption still further.

This policy has resulted in taxes on tobacco products in the UK being amongst the highest in the world and comfortably ahead of those in other EU Member States.  For example, in March 2017 the price of a typical pack of premium cigarettes in the UK was £9.91 while in Belgium the price was about £5.12, in Spain it was around £3.93 and Poland it was around £2.81.  The differences in the price of handrolling tobacco (HRT) are even more marked.  A 50g pouch, which costs £19.99 in the UK, can be purchased in Belgium for around £7.40.

So, basically it's better for the NHS and the economy if there are more smokers!