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Small shop tobacco display ban and smoke-free hospital grounds come into force in April 2015 

This week marks one year to go until all Scottish shops must stop displaying tobacco products.

April 2015 is also the deadline by which all Scottish hospitals must have completely smoke-free grounds.

A display ban for larger shops was introduced in Scotland in 2013, with the intention of rolling it out to all shops two years later. From 6 April 2015 all tobacco products, traditionally displayed prominently behind the counter, must be kept out of sight or behind a screen. The policy aims to reduce young people’s exposure to promotion of tobacco.

As set out in the Scottish Government’s Tobacco Control Strategy, Towards a Tobacco Free Generation,All NHS boards must make their entire hospital grounds smoke-free by the end of March 2015. That includes removing all designated smoking areas and shelters. The measure will not apply to mental health facilities.

Guidance was first issued to NHS Scotland in 2005, encouraging boards to show leadership in promoting smoke-free policies to staff and patients. A number of NHS boards have already adopted smoke-free grounds.

Michael Matheson, Minister for Public Health, said:

“These two policies, which come into force in a year’s time, are important parts of our efforts to create a tobacco-free generation by 2034.

“It cannot be right that in hospitals, places where people come to recover from illness and injury, patients and relatives have to walk through a fug of smoke as they enter buildings. We feel it’s important for boards to show leadership by demonstrating that there's no place for smoking anywhere on hospital grounds.

“Smoke-free grounds have already been introduced at a number of hospitals throughout Scotland.

“The display ban in shops is something that has been running successfully in larger shops since last year. The measure was introduced to reduce young people’s exposure to promotion of tobacco products by covering up walls of cigarette packs.

“We wanted to give smaller retailers more time to make the necessary preparations, hence the longer deadline. However, with just one year to go it’s important that shopkeepers start to think about how they will display tobacco after 6 April 2015. I’d encourage them to familiarise themselves with the guidance available online.

“We also remain committed to introducing plain packaging of tobacco products, which will reduce the attraction of brightly coloured packaging in all environments. Following this week’s announcement that the UK Government is now in favour, we will be working closely with them and colleagues in Wales and Northern Ireland to make sure it is introduced as soon as possible.”

Guidance for shopkeepers is available athttp://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/Services/Smoking/TopicsHealthSer vicesSmoking/

Background

• Each year, tobacco use is associated with over 13,000 deaths (around a quarter of all deaths in Scotland every year) and 56,000 hospital admissions in Scotland.
• Scotland’s healthcare costs associated with tobacco-related illness are estimated to exceed £300m and may be higher than £500m each year
• ASH Scotland has estimated the wider cost to society, including healthcare and productivity costs, to be around £1.1 billion annually
• Smoking makes a significant contribution to Scotland’s unfair and unjust health inequalities, with smoking rates ranging from 36 per cent in Scotland’s most deprived communities to 10 per cent in its least deprived