By Rachel Amery, The Scotsman
May 29, 2025- MSPs have unanimously agreed to back the UK Government’s plans to create the “first smoke-free generation”.
UK ministers are hoping the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will “break the cycle of addiction and disadvantage and put us on track towards a smoke-free UK”.
Scottish Public Health Minister Jenni Minto asked her colleagues in Holyrood to grant legislative consent for the UK Bill.
The Scotsman takes a look at what this means for Scotland.
Banning cigarettes
Branded “the biggest public health intervention in a generation”, the Bill will ban the sale of all cigarettes and tobacco products to anyone born after January 1, 2009.
This means all children turning 15 this year and younger can never legally be sold tobacco in the UK at any point in their life.
The legislation will also ban the sale of all vaping and nicotine products to under-18s and ban the free distribution of these products.
Stopping children vaping
As well as banning the sale of vapes, the Bill will also allow ministers to regulate the flavours, packing and display of vapes so they do not appeal to children.
While vapes can still be used to help smokers quit, the UK government says children and adults who have never smoked before should never vape.
The Bill says: “The government is concerned about the worrying rise in vaping among children, with youth vaping more than doubling in the last five years and one in four 11-15 year olds having vaped in 2023.
“It is clearly unacceptable and why this government is taking strong action to end the deliberate targeting of vapes to children.”
Regulation of advertising and retail
The legislation will also ban the advertising and sponsorship of vape and nicotine products.
In Scotland, all retailers selling tobacco and vapes need to be officially registered, and this Bill looks to strengthen this existing policy.
It will also introduce a new retail licensing scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Outdoor smoking ban
Should this Bill pass, the indoor smoking ban will be extended to outdoor spaces like children’s playgrounds, schools and outside hospitals.
Many of these areas are already covered by the smoking ban in Scotland. The legislation will also introduce extra powers to allow workplaces and public places that are already smoke free to become vape free as well.
Helping people to quit
Hospitals will need to integrate “opt-out” smoking cessation interventions into their routine care, meaning every clinical consultation will cover some sort of smoking intervention.
Positive messages and advice on how to quit smoking will also be inserted into packs of cigarettes to help encourage current smokers to quit.
Single-use vapes
This legislation is separate to the Scottish ban on single-use vapes, which comes into force on Sunday, June 1.
Why is the government doing this?
Essentially the government thinks it can save the NHS some money and boost the economy by making the population healthier.
The UK government says smoking is the number one preventable cause of death, disability and ill health in the UK, causing 80,000 deaths a year, including one in four cancer deaths.
Ministers also estimate smoking costs the economy and wider society £21.8 billion a year, including an annual £18.3bn loss to productivity through smoking-related lost earnings, unemployment and early death.
