Smoking used to be everywhere. The first time I went to the pub – more years ago than I would like to admit – it was a decidedly smoky experience. It seemed like basically everybody at the pub smoked as they drank, to a level that youngsters today would probably find quite shocking.
I quickly found myself among them, holding court on some nonsense topic over a student-priced beer and loosely holding a cigarette as if I was some world-weary story-teller. But soon, things started to change.
First, in 2007, smoking indoors was banned. But then over the next few years, e-cigarettes slowly came onto the scene, and I ended up switching a couple of years after that. The smokers huddled outside despite the typically British weather, while the increasing number of vapers (usually) got to stay inside.
In 2020, this combination has led to a wildly different landscape. If you’re lucky with your local, the vapers will still be allowed indoors, but regardless of house rules, you’ll undoubtedly notice a lot more vapers than there used to be. Meanwhile, the number of smokers is noticeably dwindling.
Seeing the rise of vaping and the apparent displacement of smoking makes you think: will smoking soon be a thing of the past? Is vaping actually killing smoking for good?
Lee Johnson – Ashtray Blog – September 23, 2020.
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