The very occasional cigar aside, I’m not a smoker, but I absolutely hate smoke-free bars. And not only on libertarian principle, I simply dislike both smoke-free bars as well as the sort of people who won’t go to smoke-filled bars.
The Fraters Libertas explain how the neo-puritans are killing off the night life in Minnesota and around the world:
I spoke with the bar manager of a local VFW last Saturday about the smoking ban (quick aside: why does the state have to run TV ads now rubbing our loss of freedom in our faces?) and she is convinced it will lead to the closing of the establishment.
She said that yes, the mythical people who say “Now that the bars are smoke free I am going to go out more” are actually coming out (mind you, this one only one week after the ban, FWIW) but here’s the problem: they don’t drink! They drink soda, or ask for water. A bar doesn’t make any money on a soda someone sips on for an hour….
So basically all these years the smokers (also known as the people who buy alcoholic beverages at bars) were the ones footing the bill for the pop drinkers. They were the reason you could go see a band for no cover and have a good time with your 7-Up….
Who knew that smoking and drinking went hand-in-hand?
If you don’t have the freedom to smoke and drink whatever you want, you aren’t free. So, congratulations, those of you who craved your own enslavement.