Scotland's drinkers face the big "stub out" this weekend as the country's all-out pub smoking ban comes into force at 6am on Sunday 26 March.
But the advent of one of the biggest legislative changes ever to hit the Scottish licensed trade has been accompanied by confusion, with local councils - charged with the job of enforcing the ban and approving schemes to set up pub-garden smoking shelters - accused of obstructing licensees and operators by imposing a raft of petty planning obstacles. Hundreds of pubs that have submitted plans for garden shelters and canopy developments might have to wait months before their applications are processed because councils do not have sufficient staff to cope.
Scotland's trade groups put much of the blame on the Scottish Assembly for failing to issue clear guidelines. They claim this has given councils the opportunity to set their own agendas, and means that planning policy for outside shelters, which many pubs need to keep smokers as customers, varies according to where a premises is located.
Patrick Browne, chief executive of the Scottish Beer & Pub Association says the Scottish Executive has neglected its responsibility towards one of the nation's major employers and generators of tax revenue. He accuses the executive of showing no interest in helping licensees provide outside facilities for customers. "A whole raft of planning issues has prevented licensees from getting on with the job of developing facilities for smokers and when the ban kicks in on Sunday many hundreds will still be left high and dry," he says.
A number of councils are ruling against the use of pavement awnings if buildings are listed or are located in conservation areas. And one authority - Angus Council in Tayside, which is well known for its radical policies - has even tried to impose a no-smoking condition on any outside shelter it approves. The idea has caused outrage and has now forced the council's legal officers to investigate the validity of the proposal.
Chief executive of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA) Paul Waterson says it is clear the trade is manifestly unprepared for the ban. "The guidelines and regulations were published far too late," Waterson says, "and it has led to confusion in the trade about what licensees can or cannot do. It's an absolute mess but nobody is prepared to admit preparations for the smoking ban have been shambolic."
Waterson says that in January the SLTA held six seminars across Scotland, each attended by planning and environmental health officers.
"We ended up more confused than we were at the start," he says. "It is clear that, come Sunday lunchtime, many licensees will begin trading minus the facilities they'd expected would keep smokers. The widely differing interpretations by councils on such things as shelters and smoking huts is worrying. The only advice we can give licensees is to try and talk to their planning authority first to see what is likely to be permitted."
The Scottish Assembly Heath Ministry, architects of the smoking ban legislation, says it is not its job to lecture councils about planning policy. A spokesman says
the planning issues covering outside smoking stations are "a matter between individual pubs and the relevant local authority".
Details of the Scottish smoking legislation
l The Act comes into force at 6am on Sunday morning, 26 March. From that time it will be illegal to smoke in almost every enclosed place in Scotland other than private homes.
l The ban affects all business premises that are defined as "wholly or substantially enclosed", so at least 50% of the area (including the roof and walls) provided for smokers must be open to the elements.
l Licensed premises will be obliged to display no-smoking signs and these must state it is an offence to smoke or knowingly permit smoking.
l Customers face fixed penalties of £50 if they are found smoking, which could rise to £1,000 if they refuse to pay and end up being prosecuted in the courts.
l Licensees and pub operators face a fixed £200 penalty for allowing smoking on their premises or failing to display warning notices. Refusal or failure to pay could result in prosecution and a fine of up to £2,500
l The no-smoking symbol must be a specific size and display the name of the person to whom a complaint may be made.
l Around 700 extra Environmental Health Inspectors have been recruited by the 32 local authorities in Scotland to police the ban.
l The inspectors have been instructed to adopt a "covert and leave" policy rather than adopt confrontational tactics.
l A special hotline number has been set up for the public to report instances of the new law being flouted.
Beer sales in Scottish pubs could fall by £6.8m and up to 142 premises could close down because of the smoking ban.
Research by the Centre For Economics & Business Research - using an analysis of data compiled in Ireland following the Republic's smoking ban, which came into effect 2004 - also suggests that 2,300 jobs in the industry could be lost. The ban could also eat into £86m of pub profits and the Exchequer itself stands to lose an estimated £56m in tax revenues. And annual turnover in Scottish pubs is projected to dip by £109m, with supermarkets reaping the benefits of smokers deserting bars and pubs.