subject: The Smoking Ban And Pubs [print this page] Ireland issues ten percent fewer pub licences than it did just a few years ago. In Scotland, the image is similarly bleak. In England and Wales, pubs are closing down every week.
I used to smoke. For me, nicotine and alcohol comprised such a wonderful cocktail that I always knew I could never quit the one without abandoning the other. I also used to be a mystery shopper, posing as a customer and reporting on the pubs service standards (the pay sucks, but the cost of the beer was always refunded its great work if you can get it). Without exception, in all the pubs I inspected (and they were numerous and widely distributed), the overwhelming majority of customers smoked, although the national statistics told us three-quarters of the population did not. It didnt take a genius to figure out that smokers were by far the biggest drinkers. Never was the difference more stark than when the pub had a designated non-smoking area. Whereas the smoking area always comprised most of the pub, and was often heaving, the non-smoking room was invariably tiny, and usually empty. Never did they have quite the atmosphere of the smoking area.
Then the smoking ban was imposed. Unable any longer to enjoy their drugs cocktail, most of my friends gave up with me. Some succeeded and found that without its partner, their taste for alcohol subsided and they drank much less. Weve been rolling in money ever since. The rest discovered there was no lack of off-licences where the alcohol was cheaper than in the pubs, and they could drink all night in the comfort of their home, and nobody would call time on them or tell them theyd had enough.
So yes, the pub industry is under severe pressure, and will remain so unless the smoking ban is reversed, which seems improbable. This was always predictable, and while some people certainly have stopped smoking and lives will be saved as a result, the government deserves criticism for failing to take measures to support the pub industry in the bans wake.
