§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has as to the numbers of people under the age of 20 years in Scotland who use tobacco and the numbers of those people who show evidence of tobacco-related diseases.
§ Mr. John MacKaySample surveys conducted by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys indicate that in Scotland about 187,000 people under the age of 20 smoke cigarettes. We have no information about the use of other tobacco products by this age group. There are no centrally held data to show how many of these persons are affected by tobacco-related diseases; but the adverse health effects of smoking are cumulative and would not begin to appear in the early years of smoking.