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Guide on reducing tobacco sales published |
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Thursday, 28 February 2008 |
A new guide aimed at reducing tobacco sales to young people in Scotland has been published.
The guide, which has been published today by the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) and ASH Scotland and will be distributed to the Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland, Community Health Partnerships and retails organisations.
Sheila Duffy, chief executive, ASH Scotland said that the guide shows that reducing sales of cigarettes to young people and improving Scotland’s health is a community effort.
She said: “This innovative guide outlines how a number of agencies and organisations that care for the health of children can play their part and shows that partnership working can help enhance enforcement work.”
She said there are good reasons for trying to prevent teenagers starting to smoke as evidence shows that the younger you start smoking, the more you smoke in adulthood and the harder it is to quit. Furthermore, she said that a child who starts smoking at the age of 14 is fifteen times more likely to die of lung cancer than someone who never smokes.
She continued: “Although teenage smoking rates have decreased in Scotland over the last few years, smoking remains a problem with 15 per cent of 15 year olds regular smokers. Of those, a massive 82 per cent get their cigarettes from shops and recent test purchasing exercises have shown that nearly a third of shops will make illegal sales to under 18s. Whilst there are many responsible retailers who will always ask for proof of age, there is no doubt more must be done to ensure the law is upheld and young people protected.”
SCOTSS chair David Thomson said the guide should be “warmly welcomed” by all those working to reduce young people’s access to tobacco, adding: “It helps make the connections between the prevention and enforcement roles of those involved in this important issue and should enable us to tackle it more effectively.”
One person has commented on this article. 1. Guide on reducing tobacco sales published
Chrissy, Unregistered The unfortunate result of the change of law regarding sales of tobacco to young people has resulted in a black market, young people who are able to buy or obtain cigarettes are selling them to other young people who cannot for 50p a "stick," a single cigarette.
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