Licensing sale of tobacco key to cutting number of young smokers

Published on Thursday 13 September 2007 01:14

SMOKING is still Scotland's biggest preventable killer - 24 per cent of preventable deaths in Scotland each year are due to smoking, rising to 34 per cent in some areas.

Communities across Scotland are affected by disease and bereavement because of this deadly substance. Yet tobacco is widely available to buy and there are few restrictions on its purchase.

One of them is the age you can buy tobacco - and that's about to change. Today, the Scottish Parliament will vote to increase the minimum purchase age from 16 to 18 on 1 October (the same day as England and Wales), bringing tobacco into line with alcohol. This is a move ASH Scotland welcomes, because Scotland has the highest rate of young smokers in Britain and anything which can help to reduce tobacco addiction should be fully supported.

There is international evidence that age-restriction laws can lead to a significant decline in the number of retailers selling cigarettes to those under age - however, this is the case only if the law is properly implemented. ASH Scotland believes that for the age change to have any real effect, the Scottish Government must support it through effective enforcement.

The current age restrictions are not being upheld. Eighty-two per cent of 15-year-old smokers and 47 per cent of 13-year-old smokers regularly buy their cigarettes from shops. It is clear, therefore, that adequate resources must be made available so trading standards officers are able fully to support and enforce the law.

It is also vital that effective penalties and deterrents are introduced. Shona Robison, the public health minister, has said she hopes more money will be made available to trading standards officers following the current Comprehensive Spending Review - but there is no guarantee.

However, as well as the resources to tackle retailers who sell to those under age, trading standards officers need to have effective enforcement tools as well. That is why a tobacco licensing scheme is necessary for Scotland.

A licensing scheme could be used both as an active deterrent and to penalise persistent offenders. Retailers who consistently sell cigarettes to anyone under age would not only face fines, but could also have their licence suspended and ultimately revoked for repeated violation.

Licensing would be cheaper and quicker than the current costly court system, which led to only 11 court prosecutions in 2006-7. Licensing would also put more accountability on to those who sell cigarettes.

The sale of alcohol is licensed as a measure to protect public health and keep children from harm. While tobacco kills 13,500 Scots each year, and while evidence shows the younger you start smoking, the more harm is done to your health and the harder it is to quit, then tobacco is also a public health issue.

So I am delighted that Christine Grahame, MSP, plans to consult on a Private Member's Bill to introduce tobacco licensing. It is without doubt one of the most effective ways of enforcing the age change our MSPs will vote on today.

If Scotland is to become a "healthier and fairer" country and the public are to lead longer and fuller lives, it is in all our interests to stop our future generations becoming addicted to tobacco and to put a halt to the misery caused to thousands of families across Scotland by ill-health and early death caused by smoking.

• Maureen Moore is the chief xxecutive of ASH Scotland