Is it me - or are public bars busier since the smoking ban?!

Is it me - or are public bars busier since the smoking ban?

Well I thought pubs were supposed to be going out of business and all that...I am delighted by the ban, as I can go to any pub and not come out heaving of stale smoke - but I was expecting empty seats to appear. Perhaps in another neck of the woods people are more stubborn, but in our town public bars are doing very well...comments?

11 hours ago
In answers to your questions I am from Bristol - England, am certainly NOT gay, enjoyed two weeks in San Francisco last year (where the smoking bans have certainly improved the social scene). BTW Public bars have ALWAYS shut down and re-opened regularly, always expect some to fall by the wayside, its natural selection.

We have 6 bars in a town with a population of only about 8,000. All of them have provided smoking rooms the smokers seem to be O.K. with that and non smokers like myself now have the pleasure of enjoying a social drink and a conversation without having my eyes water and having to turn away from my fellow smoking friend by searching for some clean air.
And no. I don't think that the bars in Castlegar B.C. Canada have suffered as far as business goes. In fact I would say it has helped business insofar as the non smokers that used to avoid bars for this reason or limited their stay in them. Are now patronizing them and staying longer.
Now I wish they would limit the amount of decibels that are put out in music and bands to the level where we on job sites have to wear hearing devices that limit the damage being done to our hearing. Where are the Workers Compensation inspectors when the music starts?