Underage Sales of Cigarettes (Prosecutions)

Part of Justice and Law Officers – in the Scottish Parliament at 2:15 pm on 14 June 2007.

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The Solicitor General for Scotland:

I am grateful to Mr Finnie for his kind words of welcome.

Prosecution is the ultimate sanction, of course, but it is part of a range of measures to deal with the mischief of smoking among Scotland's youth, which include enforcement by trading standards officers, the production of guidance material, visits and inspections, publicity following test purchases, intelligence-led targeting of premises, and the use of proof-of-age cards, which allows retailers to operate a no-proof, no-sale policy.

It is interesting that an evaluation of a similar test-purchase scheme on the sale of alcohol to underage persons in Fife revealed that, in respect of repeat test purchases, retailers requested proof of age in 97 per cent of cases. I agree that prosecution is important, but it is part of a range of measures. Procurators fiscal are well aware of the importance of their role in ensuring that there is a range of effective measures to deal with youth smoking.