There is more than a whiff of populism about the SNP government's move to ban cigarettes from open sale in shops and push them under the counter.

Populist and misguided, if past efforts to make the sale of stimulants illegal is anything to go by.

When Prohibition in the United States attempted the impossible by criminalising the sale of alcohol, it opened the floodgates to one of the greatest clandestine trades in bootleg liquor ever seen. It encouraged people to find other sources and gave opportunities to criminal gangs to supply them.

Of course, there is no real equivalent to those stirring times in simply requiring retailers to sell cigarettes from under the counter. But it is a significant step nonetheless. It makes the purchase of tobacco a furtive, embarrassing activity. A transaction that causes not the slightest comment today becomes an antisocial activity. Asking for a pack of 20 Regal King Size will be like demanding a pornographic magazine, a supply of Methadone or a cure for piles.

That may be precisely what ministers want to achieve, but they have forgotten the law of unintended consequences.

By semi-outlawing the purchase of tobacco they are encouraging a new and entirely unnecessary branch of criminal activity. A lively trade in supplying cigarettes and tobacco is likely to grow up. We will see clandestine deals in pubs, not just of drugs, but of cigarettes. - without notably curbing the use of tobacco.

The smoking ban was well thought out, evenly applied. This move bears all the hallmarks of a back-of-the-envelope policy. Worse, it ignores the lessons of history.