Met extremisten valt niet te discussiëren
In een nieuwe column beschrijft publicist Kerry Diotte de gevolgen van algemene rookverboden in diverse Amerikaanse en Canadese steden. Hij begrijpt niet waarom de antirookextremisten het overtuigende bewijs van de schade die rookverboden in de horeca aanbrengen kunnen negeren.
(…) has circulated a KPMG study of bars, taverns and nightclubs conducted just months after a Jan. 1, 1998, widescale California ban. It found sales in bars plunged 26.2% and nearly 60% of establishments lost business. Stand-alone bars and nightclubs reported a loss in business of up to 81.3%.
The study discovered 50.4% of respondents “experienced an increase in customer complaints and fights, 65% indicated a loss in their regular customer base and nearly 30% had layoffs or cuts in working hours.”
Meanwhile, since Ottawa imposed its blanket smoking ban in August 2001, bar revenues are down an average of 22% and bankruptcies have doubled.
