The smoking ban does not make people so much unhappy…even among barowners and tobbaconists.
« No smoking ».
At « Le Mirbel », a café bar tabac situated in the rue Mirbel, in the 5th district of Paris, the sign has been displayed prominently on the front door. Solemane works at the bar-restaurant near the “tabac” where he sells cigarettes. Since the smoking ban was passed on January 1st in France Paris
Soulemane confesses he is himself “a big smoker” but agrees with the ban: “Frankly, though I’m a smoker, I think it is a very good thing”. “I can tell you that at lunch, there used to be half of the room, that is to say, six tables, then about twelve persons, who smoked at the same time”. In such conditions, Solemane admits “you could not eat”. Now, he enjoys better work conditions. He does not have to bear a “cloud of smoke” while serving, he says. Then he believes that the smoking ban has been a great decision “even for smokers” like him.
However, he acknowledges the ban is not as good for his business as it is for his health. He has already observed a drop in the frequenting of his place, “particularly in the morning”. He assumes that he has already lost 30% of his customers since the ban was enforced on January, 1. “Then it means about 30% less of the turnover”. And the fall in the frequenting has been especially important among students. Indeed, “Le Mirbel” is located in a students’ area, not far from the University of La Sorbonne Nouvelle