Health Secretary Michael Matheson is reportedly considering banning vape displays and hiding them behind shutters – as happened with cigarettes in 2013 – amid fears children are getting hooked on them.
The news comes as figures reveal that of Scotland’s 543,000 regular vape users, 51,000 are under 16 years old.
Matheson told The Times he wanted to take a “pro-active” approach to tackling the problem.
He said: “Kids are quite readily walking around schools vaping, in a way they never have with cigarettes. There is a need for us to reverse that trend.
“There are also measures we could try in terms of working with schools and local authorities in terms of banning vapes in schools.”
He told the newspaper: “Tobacco displays have been largely replaced by vapes.
“Old-style tobacco shops have been replaced by vaping shops. It is a modern age of tobacconists.”
In addition, Matheson said police officers could carry out sting operations to crack down on shops selling vapes and e-cigs to youngsters.
