Nicotine patches for smoking students

PUPILS at Nailsea School will be given nicotine patches to help them give up smoking.

The Mizzymead Road school has signed up to a scheme run by North Somerset Council in a bid to encourage students to kick the habit, with one of its first aiders now trained in how to deal with the issue.

It is estimated about 545 young people start smoking in the district each year, based on an analysis by Cancer Research UK, and preventing the uptake is one of the key public health priorities for North Somerset Council.

At Nailsea School, smokers can now take part in advice sessions, benefit from behavioural support and those aged 12 and over will be given access to nicotine patches and lozenges.

Advisers will encourage young people to tell their parents they are using nicotine replacement products.

The council’s director of public health, Becky Pollard, said: “We are delighted the school is committed to providing this valuable service.

“Young people can become addicted to tobacco very easily, and this can affect their ability to concentrate, as well as leading to them to smoke on site and can result in smoking related exclusions.

“Smoking is not only harmful to their own health but affects others too.”

Another school which has been running a help-to-stop service is the Hans Price Academy in Weston, which has been offering advice and nicotine replacement therapy for the past year and has seen a 50 per cent success rate in pupils giving up completely.

Any other schools interested in providing the service can contact the Smokefree North Somerset team on 01275 546744.