I don’t know of any smokers who quit drinking or going to bars because of the smoking bans.
I quit going to bars — but didn’t quit drinking :) — because of the smoking bans. I know of a few others too. I think the colder the climate, the more people like me you’ll find; smoking outside in January/February can be harsh.
Yet bar owners report a 30% drop in business following the ban.
The dirty secret of smoking bans is publicly bars/restaurants are against them, but behind the scenes bars/restaurants favor them.
Bar/restaurant business goes UP after smoking bans. The fact is, a large percentage of non-smokers simply will not go to an establishment that allows smoking under any circumstances.
On the other hand, a large number of smokers will go to an establishment that bans smoking—as long as it’s the government that banned the smoking. If the establishment takes it upon themselves to ban smoking, smokers will not frequent it.
So publicly bars make a big fuss about government laws against smoking, but behind the scenes the don’t do anything to stop it.