>> "Precisely! If you check some of my other comments in this thread, you'll see me putting forward the idea that these social incentives (created by these laws

>> "Precisely! If you check some of my other comments in this thread, you'll see me putting forward the idea that these social incentives (created by these laws) are the primary cause of reduced smoking rates over the past decade or so." I believe it actually works the other way too. If your friend group is primarily made up of smokers who are forced to go outside the pub/restaurant etc. multiple times in an evening you might decide to start joining them. I know a tonne of people who only 'smoke when they drink' for this reason and many others who started like that and now smoke full-time.