The difference is that you consent to someone else's drugs entering your body.

Me too. I liked the smell. And the bars used to be less 'clear' due to the smoke. They had more atmosphere.

I did hate the way my clothes smelled afterwards but anyway that's what a washing machine is for.

I don't go in for cigarette smoke, but cigars, oh my.

I can't stand the smell of cigarettes, many of them make me feel nauseous. This may be because I'm young enough that public smoking has been banned for most of my life, so I never ever got used to the smell.

Europe is the exception here, not the US.

In general European countries have bans on smoking in public places much stricter than the US.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_smoking_bans#Smoking_b...

Used to be that bars were the place you went in the US to smoke and drink. Since you can't smoke in bars (Note: "pubs" for UK readers) anymore, there's less of a reason to go to them, and it incentivizes drinking at home. Which has led to a lot of bars closing and fewer of them than ever.

You don't need bars or luck to make friends with European expats.