New laws have come into force banning people from smoking within a certain distance of north and north-east hospitals.
Anyone caught lighting up within 15 metres (50ft) of any Scottish hospital building can now be hit with a £50 fine.
The rules apply to all staff, patients and visitors, and also cover the likes of canopies or overhanging shelters.
It follows a voluntary rule introduced back in 2015 for smoke-free hospital grounds.
Charity Ash Scotland says the move will protect people from the harms of tobacco at hospital entrances, and also when smoke wafts into windows and vents.
Chief executive Sheila Duffy has urged people to be “considerate” and follow the rules.
“(This ensures) hospital patients do not face unnecessary additional risks to their health caused by inhaling harmful substances,” she said.
Why is the change being brought in?
The new change is part of a wider Scottish Government initiative to create a tobacco-free country by 2034.
This means any children born after 2013 will turn 21 in a Scotland “largely devoid” of smoking, with a view to getting rates below 5%.
Earlier this year lawmakers in England were urged to increase the legal age to buy cigarettes by one year, every year, until eventually no one would be old enough.
And we reported that the Scottish Government was considering if it could do the same.
Readers were less keen, however.
They argued that smokers have “suffered enough” already, and feared the start of a slippery slope towards banning alcohol and junk food.
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