Smokers face rise in legal age to buy cigs
THE minimum age for buying cigarettes could be raised to 18 in Scotland as early as next spring.
The proposal is the latest attempt by ministers to tackle Scotland's health record, following the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces.
An expert group on tobacco use is expected to report back within weeks that the current minimum age of 16 should be scrapped and brought into line with the laws on alcohol.
The deputy health minister, Lewis Macdonald, who is in charge of smoking legislation, is thought to be sympathetic towards the move, and the law could be altered before the next Holyrood election in May 2007.
The move comes after the British Medical Association argued last week that 16-year-olds should no longer be allowed to buy cigarettes. The BMA estimates about 19 per cent of Scottish 15-year-olds are regular smokers. Evidence from around the world has shown, however, that where the age limit is increased, smoking rates among the young drop markedly.
Ministers were granted the powers to raise the age limit last year but said that before acting, they would wait for the findings of an expert group.
A Labour source said: "They have given Lewis Macdonald a summary of their conclusions and it backs an increase in the age limit. Now that we have got the public ban, it makes sense."
