In November 2004, 44 per cent of bar managers supported smokefree indoor regulations. Six months later, after the smokefree bar law came into effect, 61 per cent were supportive. Now, in 2021, it would be difficult to find advocates for smoking inside bars.
These changes illustrate the way that some people find it difficult to imagine working differently, and how perceptions change with lived experience.
What is the evidence relevant to smokefree outdoor bars and cafes? After the smokefree bar law in 2004, data for the 2005 year showed no negative changes in financial and employment trends that might have been associated with the new law. Venues serving food continued, as a group, to outperform stand-alone bars.