Campaigners are calling for retailers to be “held to account” for sales of vapes and cigarettes to underage youngsters as new figures showed a “disappointingly high” number of shops selling such products.
New figures for 2025-26 showed more than a fifth (21.9%) of stores sold vapes to under-18s working with trading standards, up from 19.8% the previous year.
Trading standards staff carried out 677 such test purchases for vapes last year, with a report from the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards (SCOTTS) in Scotland insisting that having “more than one in five sellers being willing to sell to under-18s is unacceptable”.
Trading standards officers also found that 13.1% of stores were willing to sell tobacco to underage volunteers, with the SCOTTS report stating that while this was an improvement from last year’s 14.3%, it was “still too high”.
It is deeply disappointing that some retailers are selling addictive and health harming tobacco and recreational nicotine products such as vapes to children
Overall, the SCOTTS report said: “Failure rates, where shops have sold tobacco or vapes to under-18s, remain disappointingly high, with more than one in five selling vapes and one in seven selling tobacco to a young person under 18 years old.”
SCOTTS chairman Chris Bell said in light of the “very concerning” results, trading standards officers “will be stepping up efforts this year to support sellers with advice and continue to take enforcement action where sellers break the law.”
Sheila Duffy, chief executive of health charity Ash Scotland, said: “It is deeply disappointing that some retailers are selling addictive and health-harming tobacco and recreational nicotine products such as vapes to children.”
She added: “It is vital that retailers are held to account for underage sales of cigarettes which, when used as manufacturers intend, will kill up to two-thirds of consumers and vapes containing addictive nicotine and toxic chemicals that can damage developing lungs and brains over time.”
Ms Duffy added that additional funding for trading standards is “vital to ensure future restrictions on the visibility and availability of recreational nicotine products can be comprehensively enforced to protect children and young people”.
Luke McGarty, head of policy and public affairs at the Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF), said its members are “fully committed to responsible retailing”.
We firmly believe that vape and tobacco products should never be marketed or sold to underage children
He stressed stores “work closely with both trading standards and the Scottish Government to promote high standards of compliance across Scotland’s convenience sector”.
Mr McGarty said: “We firmly believe that vape and tobacco products should never be marketed or sold to underage children, and there must be a strong and visible deterrent for those who deliberately or repeatedly break the law, including tough penalties and the potential loss of their operating licence.
“Our members have extensive experience in the responsible sale of age-restricted products and follow robust procedures to prevent underage sales. These include Challenge 25, refusal registers and electronic till prompts that support staff in making the right decision.
“We encourage all tobacco and vape sellers to join the Scottish Tobacco Register and adopt similar safeguards.”