Ban on cigarette display and vending machine sales to be introduced on April 29

The cigarette display and vending machine sales ban will be introduced in Scotland on April 29, the Scottish Government has announced.

Laws preventing open display of tobacco products in large shops and sales from vending machines will come into force on this date, following the defeat of a legal challenge by one of the world’s biggest tobacco firms last December.

The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal against any ban by Imperial Tobacco, which argued that the legislative provisions dealing with display bans fell outside the scope of the Scottish Government and were matters reserved for the UK Parliament in London.

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The ban, set out in the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010, will come into force for smaller retailers on April 6, 2015.

Public Health Minister Michael Matheson said: “We know that reducing the number of people that smoke will have wide benefits for Scotland’s health and evidence shows that these bans will help prevent young people from taking up smoking.”

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