Tackling the adult supply of tobacco to young people through local surveys of access to shop bought and illicit tobacco
|
Author(s)
David Robertson and Donald Lockhart
|
| Presenter(s) |
David Robertson Alliances Manager, ASH Scotland |
Abstract Local information about the extent to which teens rely upon the complicity of adults in order to access tobacco has helped to highlight to decision makers in local government that greater enforcement effort is required in their area. The findings from an ASH Scotland co-ordinated survey carried out in Angus highlighted that despite the changing legal landscape designed to prevent young people from accessing tobacco young smokers are still able to purchase shop tobacco or ask adults to buy tobacco for them. The survey acted as a catalyst for the local tobacco control alliance to develop a new strategy to address the issue of teen access to tobacco and availability of illicit tobacco.
Care must be taken to ensure action on direct or proxy sales does not simply divert young people towards illicit tobacco outlets, and that action on illicit tobacco does not give the tacit impression that smoking of legal tobacco by young people is somehow a less harmful or more desirable consequence. Discussion of methodology and results from the findings of the Angus study (and expected results from a Glasgow study) to allow an exploration of the conflicting factors associated with addressing proxy purchase of legal tobacco and access to illicit tobacco.
|
Presenter biography David Robertson is Alliances Manager at ASH Scotland. Principal work activity involves coordination of the Scottish Tobacco Control Alliance (STCA) and the organisation of over twenty meetings and conferences each year. Recent work has involved reporting on the outcome of events examining tobacco and substance use, cessation in pregnancy and the STCA response to the Scottish Governments draft tobacco control strategy.
|
Source of funding: Work funded by ASH Scotland.
|
Declaration of interest: None
|
| |
