Teenagers can be prescribed nicotine to help them stop smoking

Every GP surgery and chemist has been sent a "good practice" update, which covers giving nicotine patches and gum to teenagers.

The health education agency NHS Health Scotland issued the advice to help standardise treatment.

NRT was passed for use by teenagers and pregnant women at the end of 2005.

The Committee on the Safety of Medicines approved it for use after there were some concerns over its effectiveness for children.

The guidance, being issued this month, states: "NRT can be used by adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years.

"Studies indicate that NRT was as well tolerated by teenagers as it is in adults and would certainly be safer than smoking.

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"There was no evidence that indicated adolescents would abuse/misuse NRT."

The guidance also details the latest information on smoking cessation products and services.

Ann Kerr, programme manager for NHS Health Scotland, said: "This is about pulling together all the authoritative guidance across various boards in the UK.

"We do have very young people hooked on cigarettes in Scotland and we need to help them."

Dr Linda Bauld, a tobacco researcher investigating smoking cessation services in Scotland, said that there was limited awareness among doctors of the fact NRT had been licensed for teenagers in 2005.

"It wasn't widely understood," she said. "The guidance will be very useful for understanding how it can be prescribed."

Dr Bauld said that teenagers were reluctant to come forward for help in giving up smoking.

She said that since 2005 more pregnant women had been given NRT although some doctors were still reluctant to prescribe it to them.