As I wrote in my previous post, ASH is determined to double down on the claim that “at least” one million smokers have quit since the pandemic hit Britain.
As part of this confidence trick the group yesterday tweeted a quote by ‘lockdown quitter Joanne'.
“The cues I associated with smoking had gone; the commute to work and meeting up with other fellow smokers.”
When I think about my own ‘addiction’ - to caffeine - it’s true that successive lockdowns have weaned me off a daily routine that included one and usually more visits to various coffee shops.
I'm not overly fussy but one of my favourite coffee shops is Fitzbillies in Bridge Street, Cambridge.
The smaller of two Fitzbillies cafes, it's a short walk from the Forest office. With a laptop or an iPad it's a great place to work.
Unlike many of the students who come in though I don't hog a precious seat for hours whilst nursing a single cappuccino. I keep those coffees coming. The sausage rolls and chocolate cake are pretty good too.
We've always been lucky with our proximity to good coffee shops. When Forest had an office in Palace Street in Westminster there was a coffee shop a few yards away that doubled-up as a sandwich shop to catch the lunchtime trade. It also served pretty good breakfasts, if I remember.
For years I thought it was run by an Italian family (the coffee was that good) but I found out later they were Spanish.
Funnily enough, the building where we had our office – Audley House – is now home to the Independent British Vape Trade Association (IBVTA). Small world.
Half a mile from Audley House, closer to the Houses of Parliament, was Politicos Bookshop which was owned and run by Iain Dale, now an LBC presenter.
Overlooking the bookshop, which had a good selection of low circulation political magazines, was a small mezzanine where you could sit and read while consuming coffee and cake.
It also had a direct feed to the BBC Parliament channel so you could watch parliamentary debates if you were so inclined.
The mezzanine was rarely busy (which is why I liked going there) and sadly the coffee 'shop' closed even before Politicos left the building.
From Westminster – where the rent eventually proved prohibitive – we moved to a shared office near Broadcasting House (Portland Place) and, later, Wardour Street in Soho.
I loved working in Soho. It was only for a year or so but it definitely had some of the best independent coffee houses. Sadly the one I particularly remember seems to have closed permanently.
However the coffee shop I've probably gone to more than any other in London is Caffé Grana which sits among the small group of shops at St James' Underground station.
Again, it's run by an Italian (or Spanish!) family and I've been going there for 20 years. Most customers are there for a takeaway coffee but those, like me, who are early for a meeting or have time to spare can drink and eat in.
Space is tight so customers perch on stools at small circular tables. I wouldn't make a special journey to go there but if you're passing by I'd recommend it. The coffee is just as good and a lot cheaper than the former Intercontinental (now the Conrad London St James) Hotel across the road!
But I digress.
Have changes to my routine during lockdown cured my addiction to caffeine? Not a bit of it. Working from home, I drink even more of the stuff – morning, noon and night – because I can.
It may be true that some people need a 'cue' to smoke but working in an office – which most people haven't been doing during lockdown – is a far bigger discouragement I would have thought than working from home where you can smoke indoors (at your desk) or outside whenever you want.
When the smoking ban came in I remember someone telling me he had quit because it was just too far from his desk on the third or fourth floor to the smoking area outside.
Clearly he wasn't the norm because most smokers adapted to the ban and continued smoking.
Meanwhile, apart from last year's ASH/UCL research which is based on self-reported behaviour, there is scant evidence that vast numbers of smokers have quit.
Nor, beyond one or two anecdotal accounts, is there evidence that smokers have stopped because they are no longer commuting to work which, as we all know from travelling on 'no smoking' buses and trains, or standing on 'no smoking' platforms, was a great opportunity for smokers to indulge their nicotine habit.
Social smoking apart, there has been far more opportunity to smoke during lockdown, not less.
As for my caffeine 'addiction', I don't think it's made the slightest bit of difference. Regardless of circumstances, the first thing I do every day, after waking up, is make myself a coffee.
Thereafter I continue to drink coffee throughout the day. Living dangerously, I've even been known to have a large cup (never decaffeinated) late at night before I go to bed.
Whether my habit for visiting coffee shops as often as I did will return, I don't know. I haven't missed them as much as I thought I would.
What I do know is that my caffeine 'addiction' got so bad during lockdown we had to replace our coffee machine with an expensive new one (below right) because the old one got worn out.
But at least I'm not a lockdown quitter!