The money will be transferred to an electronic card that cannot be used to buy cigarettes or alcohol. A similar program encouraging pregnant women to quit smoking has already been tested in Scotland.
Chair of Scotland's health department Sandy Watson said that in 2007 the Scottish government called on the leaders of the Tayside region, where Dundee is located, to start fighting smoking in poor areas. According to her, if the program proves successful, it could be rolled out in other parts of the country.
This program, according to its author Andrew Radley, will help improve people's health. 'Quitting smoking is the most important decision everyone can make and feel much better very soon,' he said.
The method chosen by the Scottish authorities cannot be fully called innovative: it has already been tried in other countries. For example, in Spain, a smoker who abstained from cigarettes for six months could receive a cash reward of approximately $255. However, as experts say, both educational and incentive programs have a rather limited effect and do not completely solve the problem.