McNeil Seeks Smoking Age
Update
MSP
for Greenock and Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil, is set to quiz Ministers over when
they will decide on using their new powers to raise the smoking age.
Mr
McNeil has tabled a question for answer at Holyrood on Thursday, asking when the
Executive expects to receive the report of the expert group looking at
the case for raising the minimum age for purchasing tobacco from 16 to 18.
The
group, led by Dr Laurence Gruer OBE of NHS Health Scotland,
was set up after Mr McNeil successfully amended the Smoking, Health and
Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 to give Ministers the power to raise the age.
Speaking
ahead of Question Time, Mr McNeil said:
“How
can we have a situation where it is illegal for a pensioner to smoke his pipe in
his local, but it remains perfectly okay for his 16-year-old granddaughter to
have a cigarette while waiting for the school bus?
“There
is a strong case for raising the smoking age to 18. The evidence from elsewhere shows that it is effective in
stopping young people picking up the habit.
“I
therefore want to know when Ministers expect to receive the expert group’s
report and how quickly they will able to take action.”
ENDS
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