Smoking ban would definitely hurt small business
Although many researches showed the impact is insignificant, the latest study proved the negative consequences are inevitable.
The polemics regarding the advantages and shortcomings of indoor public smoking ban that was frequently heard in New York and Miami, but the debates have recently reached new heights when such states like Virginia and North Carolina, famous for their tobacco cops and cultivation traditions enacted their smoking bans in enclosed public places.
The supporters of the smoking bans cite health complications from secondhand smoke, whereas the opponents argued that bans infringe personal property rights; however the latter statements were often tuned out by legislators.
Therefore there has been only one reason to call of possible bans. The economic one. Only the loss of revenues of the state treasuries may seem significant for politicians as everybody knows how cash-dependant their popularity is.
However, the overwhelming majority of state senators base their opinions on one of numerous shallow studies demonstrating that smoking restrictions do not provide any negative effects on restaurants and bars; on the contrary they often increase revenue volumes. So politicians gladly rely on these studies and pass the smoking bans.
Yet, there is one dramatic mistake in those studies. If making a thorough examination of at least several of them, it becomes evident that these studies are wrong, since the smoking bans often hurt restaurants and cafes, and do it deeply.
Like couple of experts explained, those previous studies are loaded with many statistical defects. For instance, several researches just compare profits of eating establishments generated within a short period of time with the revenues of the same establishments during the same time period after the smoking ban implementation. They as well did not take into consideration other factors that influence on profits, like geo-political situation and even weather.
Therefore, after the researchers did not discover any substantial results, because they have made many mistakes in their calculations, they come to one and only acceptable conclusion stating that the bans can not hurt hospitality establishments. But such studies are careless and proved to be misleading.
One of the latest studies, published in the Journal of Economic Analysis, focuses on the possible economic consequences of the smoking ban recently imposed in India. The research was based on stock market prices as this approach is considered to be the most precise in the field of economy researches.
The latter study showed that after the indoor smoking ban had been proposed, the market value of hospitality-related businesses including restaurants, bars and hotels went down instantly and significantly. Therefore the results of that peer-reviewed study clearly showed that a ban on smoking in public places would definitely hurt restaurants, bars and other businesses related to hospitality.
According to fundamental theory of economy, such restrictions may alter the ordinary market actions by triggering a spontaneous shift of patrons and revenues from one place to another. The best example of such situation is the exemption of several types of businesses like cigar clubs, casinos or private lounges from statewide ban. These exemptions can cause a significant harm to those businesses since their clients who used to puff while having a coffee would switch to those exempted places.
Another nice example of similar adverse effect could be found in the border cities of neighboring state when one state imposes a smoking ban whereas the other does not. Therefore, smoking patrons hit the road to have a great time and smoke in the other state with no ban.
Therefore, though lawmakers are deaf to the statements over personal freedoms, they should be aware of other arguments much more significant and affecting many people from simple employees to business owners. Before approving any ban politicians should examine thoroughly all the arguments and not just one side of the debates.
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One other fact about economic studies that don’t show harm - they are not done by economist. If you look at these studies, they are done by public health advocates for publication in public health magazines.
From personal experience I can tell you that once the smoking ban goes into effect ini VA, I will no longer be spending my money at places that do not allow smoking. I would still go to places that have an outdoor area set up or a designated smoking room. Being from TX I have been through this before as they have banned smoking in most places (though it is not a statewide ban so some smaller towns can still allow it). When the ban in TX began I stopped going to the places I had always gone. Down there I would drive the extra distance to go to a town that allowed smoking. Since VA is going with a statewide ban I guess I will not be going out at all. I don’t care about smoking bans at eating establishments… I have no problem with eating and then smoking after I leave. But I refuse to go to a bar to drink or hear live music, and have to go outside everytime I want to smoke. I am not alone on this… I have numerous friends that smoke that have also stated they will not go to places that having the smoking ban. We all have good jobs, and spend money and tip well, but now I guess we will save our money (which I guess we need to keep paying for the high cost of a pack of smokes) and stay at home.