Policy responses and statements

Name of organisation:

Scottish Executive: Health Department

Name of policy document:

Consultation on Smoking Prevention Working Group Report: Towards a Future without Tobacco

Deadline for response:

28 February 2007

Background: The Smoking Prevention Working Group's report "Towards a future without tobacco" was published on 22 November 2006. Health Ministers have welcomed publication of the report and indicated they will give the recommendations made careful consideration before publishing a full response in due course. The Scottish Executive invited comments on the report's recommendations to enable these to be taken into account by Ministers in formulating their response.

Since the first ever action plan on tobacco control designed specifically for Scotland, "A Breath of Fresh Air for Scotland", was published in January 2004, enormous progress has been made. Historic smoke-free legislation has been introduced and there is now a nation-wide network of smoking cessation services, helping thousands of people to quit. If smoking is to be made a thing of the past, the third big challenge is to prevent people from becoming smokers. Last summer, therefore, the Smoking Prevention Working Group, a sub-group of the Scottish Ministerial Working Group on Tobacco Control, was set up to make recommendations to the Scottish Executive to assist the development of a new long term smoking prevention strategy. It was also asked to advise on the question of evidence to support raising the age of sale of tobacco products from the current age of 16 years.

The report makes 31 separate recommendations to protect or dissuade young people from starting to smoke and to deter adults from encouraging or enabling them to smoke. These recommendations are grouped under the broad headings - targets; research; reducing availability; discouraging young people from smoking and encouraging and enabling young regular smokers to stop; and making it happen.

COMMENTS ON
SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE: HEALTH DEPARTMENT
CONSULTATION ON SMOKING PREVENTION WORKING GROUP REPORT: TOWARDS A FUTURE WITHOUT TOBACCO

The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh is pleased to respond to the Scottish Executive on its consultation paper Towards a Future without Tobacco.

The College welcomes this very comprehensive report which stresses the importance of effective prevention strategy for the young, particularly to reduce both the availability of tobacco products and to discourage young people from wanting to smoke.

Raising the price of cigarettes through taxation is probably the most important measure to reduce smoking rates with the aim of making cigarettes less affordable and so less attractive, particularly to young people.  The College would encourage the Scottish Executive in its negotiations with the UK Government regarding the imposition of higher taxes and measures to reduce smuggling.

Increasing minimum packet sizes will also deter smoking rates.

The report set out new targets for the percentage of regular smokers for 13-15 year old boys and girls and are realistic and hopefully achievable.

However it is clear that further research is required in three main areas, and the College calls on the Scottish Executive to support research efforts to:

• provide  a better understanding of the reasons why young people start to smoke
• develop ways to reduce smoking in young people and
• develop more effective smoking cessation programmes for young people. 

Copies of this response are available from:

Lesley Lockhart,
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh,
9 Queen Street,
Edinburgh,
EH2 1JQ.

Tel: 0131 225 7324 ext 608
Fax: 0131 220 3939

[6 February 2007]