Scotland to consider raising smoking age

LONDON, Nov 24: The Scottish Executive is to consider raising the legal age for buying cigarettes from 16 to 18 after the change was backed by a team of experts.

A report by Scotland's Smoking Prevention Working Group, made up of academics and health officials, said the action should be taken to help stop children take up the habit and then become regular smokers.

''We will now give careful consideration to the report and its recommendations before publishing a full response in due course,'' a Scottish Executive spokeswoman said.

The report quoted a survey from 2004 which found that at the age of 13, 5 per cent of boys and 7 per cent of girls were regular smokers. By the age of 15, about 14 per cent of boys and 24 per cent of girls smoked.

''Given that the harmfulness of tobacco is at least as great as that of alcohol, there is a strong case for raising the age of purchase of tobacco to 18,'' the report said.

The group made 31 recommendations in all, including banning shops that repeatedly sold cigarettes to underage children from selling tobacco and issuing heavier fines against shopkeepers who broke the law.

Scotland became the first part of Britain to ban smoking in public places earlier this year. England will follow suit next year.

Smokers' lobby group Forest welcomed the proposal to raise the legal buying age but said it would probably have little effect.

''Raising the age at which cigarettes can be bought from 16 to 18 has some merit because smoking should be an adult activity,'' spokesman Neil Rafferty said.

Anti-smoking group Ash said it was delighted with the report and called on Scotland's ministers to implement its proposals.

''Youth smoking is a real challenge to Scotland's health, it is vital that action is taken to help young people to say no to an addiction that will eventually kill one in two long-term smokers,'' Maureen Moore, Chief Executive of ASH Scotland said.

Reuters