Smoking kills six times more Scots than accidents, homicides, suicides, falls and poisoning combined. That is the claim of anti-smoking group Ash Scotland, who state the thousands of smokers who die in Scotland every year are "the silent victims of a major health epidemic". 

Chief executive Sheila Duffy will tell the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland's Annual Conference in Ayrshire on Friday that: "If someone is killed in a road accident, murdered, takes their own life or dies as a result of poisoning, it's a newsworthy event. People take notice.

"The 13,500 Scots who die from tobacco-related illnesses every year are the silent victims of a major health epidemic. One in four of all Scottish deaths are estimated to be smoking-related."

Ms Duffy will also accuse tobacco firms of "fighting tooth and nail" to stop politicians from legislating against advertising which gets youngsters addicted to cigarettes.

She added: "We know that children and young people are more likely to smoke the most heavily marketed brands of cigarettes and they attempt to buy cigarettes in shops where tobacco is most visible.

"We know the overwhelming majority of existing smokers became addicted in their teens. We know this through research and we know this because the tobacco industry is fighting tooth and nail to try to stop both Holyrood and Westminster legislating against those displays."

Ash Scotland also claim there is huge support for ending the promotion of tobacco.  Supporters, the charity argues, include youth bodies, universities, NHS boards, local authorities and a number of professional organisations.