Working for a tobacco-free Scotland
20 December 2011
Today the results of the 2010 Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) were released, showing that smoking prevalence among young people has dropped to the lowest since the survey began in 1982.
Over 37,000 S2 and S4 pupils took part in the research. Amongst the 13 year olds surveyed only 3% of both boys and girls were regular smokers, whilst among 15 year olds, 13% were regular smoker (11% of boys and 14% of girls).
Commenting on these figures, Chief Executive of tobacco control charity ASH Scotland, Sheila Duffy, said:
“It’s great to see that smoking amongst young people in Scotland is now at historic lows, with the majority of young people reporting that they’ve never been smokers. These are the real successes, and the result of more than a decade of comprehensive action on tackling tobacco.
“Shutting down tobacco advertising and sponsorship, implementing strong pictorial warnings, price increases, and raising the age of sale will all have worked towards the continual declines in youth smoking in Scotland we can see in today’s figures.
“But we need to remember that tobacco companies are always on the lookout to attract new customers to replace those who quit or are killed by their product. To protect all of our children from tobacco we need to take away the last advertising opportunity for tobacco companies. There is a wealth of evidence suggesting that young people are less attracted to cigarettes if we take away the branding and sell tobacco in plain packets so that needs to be the next step.”
Action on Smoking & Health (Scotland) (ASH Scotland) is a registered Scottish charity (SC 010412) and a company limited by guarantee(Scottish company no 141711). The registered office is 8 Frederick Street, Edinburgh EH2 2HB.
© 2012 ASH Scotland
ASH Scotland acknowledges with thanks the support of the British Heart Foundation and the Scottish Government in developing our website.
