Banning tobacco sales near Scottish schools could affect 70% of licensed shops: study

A ban on the sale of tobacco products within 300 metres of children’s spaces like schools and playgrounds could help in preventing children from taking up smoking, a new study has suggested.

However, this measure to reduce availability will affect over 70 per cent of shops that are registered to sell tobacco products in Scotland.

The study by researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and funded by Cancer Research UK, has also suggested stopping sales in small local shops, or restricting it to supermarkets only, to lower the number and density of stores, as measures to reduce inequalities in availability.

Presently, tobacco products are most often bought at local shops and the deprived areas have more licensed shops per head of population than wealthier areas in Scotland.

“Measures to reduce tobacco availability should form part of the Scottish Government’s efforts to create a tobacco-free generation by 2034,” commented Dr Fiona Caryl, of the University of Glasgow, lead author of the study.

“However, it is important to understand which policies would be most effective while ensuring social inequalities aren’t being exacerbated.”

The study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, has also found that limiting sales to off-licences would increase inequalities in availability as deprived areas tend to have more of these shops.

The researchers created digital maps of all the country’s registered tobacco retailers, numbering over 9,000, to see how different policies would alter the number of stores.

“We need to identify ways to reduce smoking rates, particularly in young people, the most recent data shows us that smoking rates in young people have levelled off and are no longer falling,” said Professor Niamh Shortt, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences, and principal investigator on the project.

“One way to address this is to reduce the number of retailers permitted to sell tobacco. We do not need to sell known cancer-causing products alongside everyday products like bread and milk.”

The Scottish Grocers Federation, however, said the study has ignored several key facts and gives a “very misleading picture” of the local shops’ effort to tackle underage sales.

“Over many years convenience retailers have put a significant effort into ensuring tobacco is sold responsibly, that age verification measures are operated effectively in-store and that tobacco is not sold to young people,” a spokesperson of the SGF said.

The trade body also pointed out that selling tobacco to anyone under 18 is illegal in Scotland, which is the only UK nation with a Tobacco Retail Register.

“If retailers commit any tobacco-related offences, they will be removed from the register and banned from selling tobacco,” the spokesperson added.

Scottish government, in its tobacco control action plan 2018, has set out a national campaign to address smoking in school grounds, near school gates and in play parks. The action plan also suggests potential legislation by 2023 to restrict the number and the clustering density of tobacco retailers to further restrict availability of tobacco products.