The smoking ban
For those of you in the know hull is the smokiest city in the UK. 40% of adults smoke (and judging by my own observations 90% of the kids).

After years of getting a well earned rep as a good place to get your head kicked in on a Friday night, the police finally said enough is enough. They got all the clubs in town to ban lit fags and drinks on their dance floors. It was astonishing, within six months violent crime in the city center had close to halved. Although still a rough northern town, Hull became bearable for all of eighteen months. Then the smoking ban hit. Now thongs of people starved for nicotine have been flooding drunkenly onto the pavements to smoke. as a result petty fights and noise complaints have turned areas back into a DMZ. few clubs now dare to serve anything in an actual glass container.

Now a little known economic principle states that the majority of your business will come from your minority of customers. the regulars that any pub needs to keep its tills full are more often than not smokers. The fact that now some boring fuckers can pop down to the pub for a half of shandy once a week without having to shower afterwards does not make up for disadvantaging your best customers (and having to keep patio heaters going non stop). the shot of this is all the quiet and pleasant locals are having to close. The only places to weather the storm are corporate chains and places that advertise a free funnel with every £1 wkd. This means that the only place you can get to drink are jam packed with chavs. So anyone over 30, hates loud RnB/being glassed is finding it harder to find a place for a quiet pint.

I love hull and I love pubs and both are being badly affected by the smoking ban. I want to scream at every polictican that complains as to why we cant have a "cafe culture". We cant have a cafe culture because we are British. we have our own pub culture, a rich and varied one where supposedly all sections of the community can come and converse as one. the goverment is going to destroy what we have left of this, in an attempt to solve the heath crisis it helped instigate by taxing alcohol to the extent that only high volume /low quality production was the only way for breweries and drinking establishments to make even a smidgen of a profit.

some people may not like a smoky pub but I think they would prefer it to no pub.
( willenium Fist bump for verification, Thu 20 Mar 2008, 18:21, 3 replies)

Yes, thank you
You're right, of course.

I live in California. Not only do they not allow us to smoke inside ANYWHERE, we must also stand 20-50 feet from entrances and windows. The outside patio sections of restaurants are decorated with giant no smoking signs. Therefore, if I need a cigarette, I also get to enjoy freezing my tits off.

Point well made. *Click*
(BrainSurgerysFun, Thu 20 Mar 2008, 18:39, closed)

Nope, sorry!
Definitly prefer no pub to a pub full of smoke. I like to smell nice when I get home and have healthy lungs.
( girlinthehole, Thu 20 Mar 2008, 18:53, closed)

Hmm...
I really despise the smell of smoke and used to hate stinking the next morning after a night out... But I guess I would die if I didn't have a drink and dance and would gladly bring that stink back to save my hangouts.
( Mellicious is made of candy, Fri 21 Mar 2008, 17:34, closed)