Campaigners call on MSPs to license tobacco sales

ANTI-SMOKING campaign group ASH Scotland has urged MSPs to license all businesses selling cigarettes.

The Scottish Government is currently looking at proposals aimed at reducing the harm done by smoking to people's health, and particularly children.

It has released a study which show that by age 15, half of young people have tried smoking.

A licensing system would see retailers risk losing the right to sell cigarettes if they were caught selling to anyone under 18.

ASH Scotland's chief executive, Sheila Duffy, said: "We must tackle this epidemic head-on. The long-term health effects of childhood smoking are well-known – for example, someone who starts smoking at 15 is five times more likely to get lung cancer than someone who starts smoking at 24, and 15 times more likely than a non-smoker.

"These results show that health education on its own is not enough. ASH Scotland is calling on the Scottish Government to take bold steps to prevent a new generation getting hooked on tobacco.

"We need to see speedy progress towards a positive licensing scheme.

"Our polling shows that 89 per cent of Scots would support this measure."