science

Smokeasy

Smokeasy is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Smokeasy rather than just read about it. In short: Smokeasy (also spelled smoke-easy or smokeeasy) is a term which came briefly into use in the wake of government-imposed smoking bans in businesses. It refers to bars and other venues that encourage evasion of the ban.

Key takeaways

Smokeasy belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Smokeasy to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Smokeasy from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Smokeasy (also spelled smoke-easy or smokeeasy) is a term which came briefly into use in the wake of government-imposed smoking bans in businesses. It refers to bars and other venues that encourage evasion of the ban. The term has also been used to describe locations and events promoted by tobacco companies to avoid or evade bans on smoking. The word was added to the New Oxford American Dictionary in 2005, although it was used as early as 1978. It is a portmanteau of smoking and speakeasy. As smoking bans have become generally accepted, the term has fallen into disuse.

Tobacco companies and smokeasies Tobacco companies have used a variety of tactics to encourage the sale and consumption of cigarettes in the presence of smoking bans, and the term smokeasy has commonly been used to describe events and establishments of this kind. Imperial Tobacco hires public venues to promote its Peter Stuyvesant brand. In Chicago, RJ Reynolds established an "upscale smoking lounge" serving alcoholic beverages and food, but classified as a retail tobacco store.

Examples

New York City Within one month of the passage of New York City's smoking ban in 2003, smokeasies were quickly predicted. Shortly thereafter, some bartenders began to hear word of smokeasies and theorized that some former regulars who were smokers had switched to the smokeasies. By 2013, acceptance of the law was general, with the Onondaga County Health Department saying that they were receiving and investigating very few complaints.

Hawaii In Hawaii, some establishments announced their intention to defy the statewide smoking ban, one of America's strictest, which went into effect on November 16, 2006. However, bans have been successively tightened over time.

The Netherlands With the passing of a 2008 smoking ban, many Dutch cafes had become smokeasies despite facing fines up to 18,500 Euros. Dutch pub owners voiced their defiance and organized a 1500-5000 owner strong public protest of the ban in November, 2008. After two years of continued opposition by bar and cafe owners, in the fall of 2010 the Dutch government repealed the ban for smaller bars and cafes which had complained loudly about loss of business. The bans were reinstated and extended in 2018.

See also Speakeasy Cigar bar List of smoking bans in the United States Tobacco control

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Smokeasy

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Smokeasy claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Smokeasy before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Smokeasy ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Smokeasy

In research: Smokeasy appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Smokeasy in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Smokeasy is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Drinking culture, Smoking, Speakeasies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Smokeasy outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Smokeasy in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Smokeasy means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Smokeasy out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Smokeasy in simple terms?

Why does Smokeasy matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Smokeasy?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Smokeasy.