THE Scottish Grocers Federation has strongly criticised proposals to give the Scottish government wide-ranging powers to ban the advertising of electronic cigarettes, contained in the new Health Bill currently being scrutinised by the Scottish Parliament Health Committee.
SGF chief executive Pete Cheema said: “We support many of the proposals in the draft bill, particularly on age restricting electronic cigarettes. Our members are fully committed to selling these products responsibly and already treat them as being age-restricted.
“However, it makes no sense to impose a ban on advertising. There is already an advertising code of practice and we need to develop the potential of nicotine vapour products to help people move away from tobacco.
“Additionally, there is no evidence that e-cigarettes act as a gateway into smoking tobacco for young people.”
