This weekend marked 10 years since the smoking ban was placed on the 1st July 2007 in the UK. At the time there was some protest from publicans and punters alike who claimed that this would mark the decline of the Great British Pub.
Campaign group Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco (F.O.R.E.S.T.) released a report highlighting it’s concerns for public houses since the ban was put into place. They state that over the last 10 years there are 11,383 fewer pubs in the UK which they believe to be contributed by legislation. Despite this many landlords believe that the ban has been one of the best things to happen to our pub culture, and I have to agree with them.
Since I have been of legal drinking age the no smoking ban has been in place. As a child I remember going to the pub with my family for meals and sitting in a room surrounded by smokers. I remember leaving and the smell of stale smoke clinging on my clothes and in my hair. Now because of the no smoking ban you can see groups of people from all ages as well as families in pubs feeling more comfortable and enjoying the atmosphere. Those who do smoke will go outside and I think that in a lot of ways this has helped deter people from sparking up in the first place!
This is of course what the government intended - a reduction in the numbers of people smoking. Cancer Research UK state that there are now 1.9 million fewer smokers in the UK with the proportion of young smokers dropping from 26% to 17%.
So 10 years on since the smoking ban was introduced and in my opinion it can only be a good thing. I appreciate that in the beginning pubs may have lost some trade but I think as people’s perceptions towards smoking changes then pub culture will start to improve too!
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