Legislation to ban future generations of adults from ever legally being sold tobacco products will be introduced in Scotland as well as the rest of the UK, it has been confirmed.
The proposal by the UK government will gradually increase the age of sale for cigarettes, making it an offence to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.
Health is a devolved matter, but agreement has been reached for a four-nation approach to tackling smoking.
The proposed legislation will grant Scotland the appropriate powers needed to enact the bill, but the Scottish Parliament will then need to give its consent via a vote in Holyrood.
Public Health Minister Jenni Minto has reiterated that the SNP is targeting a tobacco free Scotland by 2034.
She said: “We will now consider how to use these powers, if passed by Westminster, with the consent of the Scottish Parliament, to benefit public health.”
The bill, which will be introduced at Westminster today (20 March), also aims to bring in tougher measures on vaping in an attempt to crack down on children and teenagers using them.
In response, ACS Chief Executive James Lowman, said: “The introduction of a generational ban on tobacco products will have an impact on retailers long term, as it involves training staff on a separate age restricted sales policy beyond the widely utilised Challenge25 procedures. We will work with our Primary Authority partners to provide clarity for retailers on exactly what they will be required to do in store.
“Despite the introduction of the Bill today, we are still awaiting detail on how the government aims to restrict the vaping market, which it is currently running a number of chaotic disconnected workstreams on. The timescale for the introduction of the disposables ban has been set at April 2025, when retailers will have to restructure their vaping displays and gantries to switch solely to pod systems and rechargeable devices, but the timescale for further restrictions on those gantries is as yet unknown – meaning retailers will have to disrupt their businesses twice in quick succession.”
