Health Secretary backs four-nation approach and cross party mission to reduce smoking harms and tackle youth vaping

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care is determined to eradicate the harms caused by tobacco, which remains the biggest preventable killer in Scotland, as well as tackling the challenge of youth vaping.

In a YouTube video interview with Sheila Duffy, Chief Executive of advocacy charity ASH Scotland, Neil Gray MSP reflected on the success of the country’s history-making public smoking ban and the need to continue work both on a four nations basis and in the devolved space to restrict addictive and health-harming tobacco and related products.

ASH Scotland CEO Sheila Duffy with Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Neil Gray

Neil Gray MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, said: “As a child of devolution, I was part of the school parade going down the Royal Mile in 1999 at the reconvening of the Scottish Parliament and I saw when moving into my adult years the shift in reducing the harm that smoking causes. The really defining moment for everybody was in 2006 with the passage of the ban on smoking in indoor public places.

“I was a student at that time and remember it well. It was a complete shift in terms of what was normal behaviour, and I think there is a willingness by the public to accept that there can be further restrictions on where it’s acceptable for people to smoke.”

ASH Scotland is leading a short life working group, at the request of the Scottish Government, to review the implementation of smoking restrictions on hospital grounds as well as the impact and potential implementation of further place-based restrictions. A report will be published later in 2025 and the government will consider its recommendations as part of identifying options for a consultation on extending smoke-free spaces in Scotland.

“Expert organisations like ASH Scotland advocating about the importance of developing a cross-party consensus to tackle harms that are caused by smoking is critically important in keeping us from becoming complacent and the charity’s work is central to the progress Scotland has been making over the decades and particularly through devolution towards becoming a tobacco-free nation.

“I have never smoked but have family members who have been through the process of giving up smoking so I understand how difficult it can be. Their success in quitting tobacco was down to a determination to change their lives and the support around them.

“If you smoke and are keen to quit, I urge you to keep trying! Whether it’s your first attempt or your 50^th, there is support out there with free Quit Your Way smoking cessation services, various help-to-quit programmes and plenty of peer support groups available. When we consider that we are still facing the prospect of 9,000 smoking related deaths in Scotland each year, seeking support from Quit Your Way is a very important choice for people to make.”

ASH Scotland is supporting the World Health Organisation’s call on governments to act urgently to protect children from harms caused by vaping, following mounting evidence of damage to health, and research consistently showing that young people who use vapes are at up to three times greater risk of starting to smoke.

The charity is advocating for strong measures to halt the country’s youth nicotine addiction epidemic that can be enabled by the passing of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which has a four-nations approach and will soon be scrutinised by committee in the House of Lords.

The Cabinet Secretary said: “We’ve also got the new challenge of vaping which I believe is a real issue for us, particularly with our younger generation and making sure that we’re not shifting from getting to a point of becoming tobacco-free to then seeing a greater propensity of vapes. There is work to be done both on a four nations basis and in the devolved space to ensure that we’re tackling both.

“I don’t think when talking about banning smoking in public places in 2006, many would have considered e-cigarettes or vaping becoming so prevalent and being such a public health issue. It’s a real worry because the health impacts of vaping are only just being beginning to be understood from an empirical perspective and I don’t believe that they have been understood amongst the younger generation.

“In making sure that people understand the very real health risks that are associated with smoking, we also need to make sure we get to that point with vaping, nicotine pouches and all the various other tobacco and nicotine products that are emerging.

“I’ve been so pleased that the last UK Government engaged well with their iteration of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, and we’ve started in the right space with the current UK Government’s approach as they want to go further with some elements within the Bill.”

Sheila Duffy, Chief Executive of ASH Scotland said: “Tobacco industry promotions have lured children into starting to use their addictive, harmful products for decades and the same is now happening with vapes and nicotine pouches.

“With nicotine use and addiction increasing amongst our young people, we appreciate that the Health Secretary recognises that it is a major public health concern and robust measures are essential to reduce the visibility and availability of nicotine pouches and vapes to protect the health of children now and of future generations.

“As a society, we need to be aware that the tobacco and nicotine industries will always prioritise their immense profiteering over the health of people who consume their products.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the Health Secretary and Scotland having opportunities through consultations enabled by the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to debate how we can best protect people – especially children – from breathing harmful toxins by extending smoke-free and aerosol-free environments to create health-promoting, clean air environments.”

Anyone who has the goal of giving up smoking is advised to contact visit at QuitYourWay.scot or call the free helpline on 0800 848484.

To watch ASH Scotland’s interview with Neil Gray which is part of the charity’s ‘25 years of devolved public health in Scotland’ series on YouTube here.