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Further action to reduce smoking
26/02/2009
Cigarette vending machines and tobacco displays in shops are set to be consigned to history in Scotland as part of radical measures designed to reduce child smoking.
Public Health Minister Shona Robison said protecting future generations from the devastating health effects of smoking is the main aim of legislation published today.
Among the measures included in the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill are:
- Banning cigarette vending machines
- Banning tobacco displays in shops
- Introducing a registration scheme for retailers
- Giving trading standards officers powers to issue fixed penalty notices for retailers who sell cigarettes to under 18s
- Banning orders to prevent retailers selling cigarettes if they continually break the law
The bill will also close a legal loophole which would allow commercial companies to operate GP surgeries.
Ms Robison said:
"The health risks associated with smoking are both enormous and well documented. But stopping smoking is hard and the vast majority of smokers I've spoken to wish that they'd never started.
"So that's why the measures in this bill are aimed at stopping children starting to smoke in the first place - by making it less accessible and less attractive to them.
"Point of sale marketing is a powerful tool and I believe it's totally inappropriate for cigarettes to be promoted in this way. Similarly, I believe there is no place in a modern Scotland for cigarette vending machines - we wouldn't allow any other dangerous product to be sold in this way.
"Too many people have already watched loved ones suffer and die as a result of smoking-related illnesses. I'm determined that we must do all we can to protect future generations.
"That's why we're taking these radical steps - because someone who starts smoking at 15 is three times more likely to die of cancer than someone who starts in their mid-twenties."
Dr Harry Burns, Scotland's Chief Medical Officer, said:
"Tobacco is one of the most addictive drugs around. There's also no such thing as a 'good' cigarette - tobacco is unequivocally bad for you.
"Smoking causes enormous harm to people's health and I don't believe there is any justification for continuing to advertise such a dangerous product or make it freely available through vending machines.
"Preventing young people taking up smoking is now one of the biggest challenges facing us and this bill is designed to tackle that."
Professor Gerard Hastings, Director of the Institute for Social Marketing and the Centre for Tobacco Control Research at the University of Stirling, said:
"This is a great opportunity for Scotland to maintain its international lead on public health; for business to enhance its offering to a customer base that is steadily moving away from tobacco and, most of all, for young people who will be able to grow up in a healthier local environment. It marks another step towards the day when Scotland will not just be smokefree, but tobacco free."
The Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill is published today and is available on the Scottish Parliament website at
Among regular smokers, 47 per cent of 13 year olds and 82 per cent of 15 year olds reported buying cigarettes from a shop, according to the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Abuse Survey 2006. While fewer 13 year olds bought cigarettes from shops in 2006 than 2004 (62 per cent), there was little change among 15 year olds (86 per cent).
The same survey found that one in 10 smokers aged 13 and 15 bought cigarettes from vending machines, accounting for approximately 36-40 per cent of sales from vending machines.
Smoking in public places in Scotland was banned on March 26, 2006. On October 1, 2007, the minimum age for buying cigarettes was raised to 18.
A recent trading standards operation in Glasgow found that a quarter of shopkeepers still sell cigarettes to 16 year olds.
A survey of over 2,000 11-14 year olds in California found that exposure to tobacco marketing in convenience stores increased the chances of a child smoking by up to 50 per cent.
Scotland's Smoking Prevention Action Plan, published last May, outlined a range of measures designed to reduce smoking rates in Scotland.