Scotland extends smoking ban to the great outdoors

From the Sunday Times:

"Scotland is to have some of the world's most draconian anti-smoking laws after ministers agreed measures to extend the proposed ban outdoors, to public parks, play areas and outside school gates
[...]
Several local authorities, including Dundee, East Renfrewshire and North Lanarkshire, are already preparing to extend the ban outdoors.

Glasgow, Scotland's biggest council, intends to wait for the indoor ban to bed in before deciding whether to apply it outside as well."

Yes, I think that would be wise. Might want to wait until the ban on smoking on public transport "beds in" while they're at it because if they ever actually traveled on public transport, they'd realise we're not quite there yet. I have to say, I admire the Executive's optimism - although that's all I admire.

Nothing to admire about this, though:

"Supermarket workers have been left fuming after being told they will not be allowed cigarette breaks throughout ten-hour nightshifts once Scotland's smoking ban comes into force on Sunday."

That's just plain mean.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh's smoking Czar signals a 'softly-softly' approach:

"(W)e're not really interested in following smokers home."

That's because the Executive plans to have every smoker in Scotland fitted with a device so that their movements can be tracked by satellite.

They don't really - not yet, anyway.