Much has been said about the devastating financial effects of the smoking ban in England, but not enough about the disaster in Germany. The bad news continues to pour in.
Since the launch of the smoking ban in Germany on January 1st 2006, pubs and other locales have experienced losses of up to 45%.
“This is something very depressing that is putting the economy of the sector on its knees” says Gregor Maihòfer (left) regional president of the DEHOGA, the local restaurant association, as reported by this article of the Bild (German – stored copy here).
Maihòfer says that already two thirds of the locales no longer are able to pay the rent and fear imminent bankruptcy. He also says that this indicates the exact opposite of what was promised by the antismoking propaganda, which states that an increase in patronage by all those poor non smokers and their children, who would pour in the fetid antismoking air now that it has been scrubbed. Maihòfer concludes that the smoking ban is a senseless law that spells financial ruin and means a great loss of jobs in the hospitality sector.
This second article by the Bild (German – stored copy here) picks up the issue where the first one left it. Gregor Maihòfer continues by stating that more than 80% of the business owners report that their clientele is not happy at all with the prohibition on smoking in the “Kneipen” (pubs), to the point that customers are bypassing their local watering holes to quickly consume the traditional beer and other beverages after work.
Not even one death anywhere in the world can be scientifically demonstrated to be caused by the inhalation of active or passive smoking. There are only epidemiological correlations which, by definition, cannot establish causality.
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