The politicians of Frederick, Md., are considering a law that would have a negligible impact on public health, will be difficult to enforce with any regularity, and is going to anger a lot of people who are — by nature of their habit, and of the public's increasingly hostile treatment toward it — already very angry. I'm talking, of course, about a smoking ban in public parks.

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The proposal is on the agenda today for a meeting between the mayor and the Board of Alderman, the AP reports. Back in 2007, the city's Parks and Recreation Commission recommended the ban, but it went nowhere. A few counties in Maryland have passed similar laws, according to the University of Maryland Law School, but it's unclear whether the laws are heeded or enforced.

Having recently moved from the NYC area, I can tell you that such a ban will not work. As one NYPD officer said, it's "hypocritical to ticket someone for something I myself do." Well, that explains why leash laws aren't enforced, either.