Smoking in Norway - A story

This is a story I heard.
True? I don't know.

A group of Japanese visited Stavanger, the city on the southwest coast of Norway, a kind of oil capital these days.
The Japanese were very impressed with the town, the buildings, the development.
But there was one point they did not understand in this otherwise perfect town: How come the Norwegians allowed groups of prostitutes to stand outside the fancy office buildings?

These "prostitutes" were not prostitutes at all, just office workers, smokers, who had slipped outside the building, for a smoking break.

PS. Even in the winter, I see smokers standing outside offices, restaurants, shopping malls, sometimes only dressed in their inside clothes. It must be hard to be that addicted.