The smoking ban comes into effect in 11 days.

We are only 11 days away from the smoking ban coming into effect in England. As a resident of Scotland we have had this ban in place for over a year now and it has been the best thing that could have happened.

As with these new legislations, there are some people who take things to extreme. I was talking to an employer yesterday who said "this is fantastic, we have decided to ban smoking within a 500 metre perimeter of our building, so it stops the smokers even going outside for smoke breaks. There will be no smoking on my premises, or even nearby."

After I put the phone down, I had a little chuckle, as surely the smokers will now have to take even longer smoke breaks to walk the 500 metres to light up.

One of the real benefits that we have seen in Scotland is that more Cafe's and restaurants have set up outside seating areas to attract the smokers to their establishment. Although in reality many families and non smokers use the outside areas to make the most of the sunshine (yes we do get sunshine here in Scotland).

In Scotland, everyone has won. The smokers continue to smoke, but outside and the workplace, pubs, restaurants and inside areas are a better place to be. Everyone in the UK will soon be in this position... hoorah!