The smoking ban - who do you believe?
I know it's old-hat news but it still incenses me that although I gave up smoking about a year before the ban came in, the powers-that-be are able to infantilise us at will. The latest ploy - hiding cigarettes behind screens in the supermarkets is akin to putting girly-mags on the top-shelf: that really worked didn't it?
This week there have been two conflicting reports about smoking in pubs. According to one survey (Morning Advertiser, 5th July 2012), one in five people say they visit the pub more frequently since the smoking ban; and 70% say they are more likely to take their children. I ask: what about the other four-fifths, and 30%, respectively?
The same trade paper (Morning Advertiser, 3rd July 2012) reported that 70% of licensees want the law changed to allow separate smoking rooms.
Now, would the vast majority of these business-people want to invest more money in refurbishment if trade was as hunky-dory as the first article tries to imply?
