Scotland Public Health Minister Michael Matheson said he wants to introduce standardized packaging for cigarettes and other tobacco products, the Daily Record and Sunday Mail reported.

Scotland is the first part of the United Kingdom to officially back plain packaging, but will wait to see what other devolved administrations and the UK government does, the newspaper said on its website. There have been unconfirmed reports the UK government will back plain packaging in May.
Matheson said he wants to reduce the smoking rate in Scotland to 5 per cent of the population by 2034. The current rate is 23 per cent, the newspaper reported. (ci)