Do you like going to bars or nightclubs? For many people drinking and smoking go together, even if they don’t smoke all the time. The term smoky bar is somewhat redundant. But what if there was no smoking in bars at all? Bar owners fear they will go out of business if they ban smoking. But, surprisingly, in states or communities where smoking has been banned, bar sales have gone up. Montgomery County, Maryland reports that since banning smoking in bars, alcohol sales increased 4.5 percent. In Florida, which has had a ban on smoking for a year, restaurant sales went up 7.5 percent. Nightclubs and bars had no change in the consumption of alcohol. Also, the Washington Post reports that New York City had a nine percent in restaurants and bars after the smoking ban went into effect. Clark loves going to restaurant sales in Florida now because he never has to worry about the smoke from the “smoking section” wafting over. Not to mention that banning smoking helps people who really want to quit smoking anyway.

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In other smoking news, there is a new brand of cigarettes that will extinguish themselves after a certain time. This could potentially save lives that otherwise would fall victim to house fires and other fires caused by cigarettes. We’ll keep you posted.