More Cigar Regulation Nonsense!

Posted on April 15, 2016 by smokeringscigarbar

Smoke Rings Cigar Bar and other bars, shops and their customers are constantly under threat from proposed local, state and federal regulations. It seems like somebody somewhere doesn’t like the idea that we are free to have a cigar. But rather than just stay away from smoking establishments, they want to make it difficult or impossible for you to enjoy a cigar & a place to smoke it! They try to impose ever-increasing taxes that raise prices for the consumer and impose an unfair burden on retailers and owners of affected businesses. Cigar regulations in particular are bogus. Cigars are a product designed for – and consumed by – discerning adults. Nobody snuck to the bathroom in high school to puff a premium cigar! These laws go much further than just protecting young people from smoking – they impact cigar customers and hurt businesses.

Right now, there is proposed legislation in the Pennsylvania Assembly – House Bill 682 – that would directly impact cigar customers and businesses. In 2008, the Clean Indoor Air Act was enacted in PA. It placed limits on where people can smoke. This 2008 law included “exceptions” to the smoking ban. These exceptions included drinking establishments with less than 20% food sales, portions of casino floors and other places where smoking would still be permitted.

The current proposal – “Amendment to the Clean Indoor Air Act” – would remove these exceptions – and even go further! Exceptions to be eliminated include drinking establishments, casino floors, and tobacco promotion events. Literally, the law defines “PRIVATE CLUBS” as “PUBLIC PLACES.” It would also ban smoking on any outdoor deck or patio area of a drinking establishment. So not only would “PRIVATE” be “PUBLIC” but also the “INDOOR” Clean Air Act would ban “OUTDOOR” smoking areas!! This from the same people who think it’s our kids who should take tests every year in school to see what they learned??

Meanwhile the FDA and Federal Government may likewise want to limit your freedom to enjoy a cigar. This is an interesting read from former U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. She served in the Senate from 1997–2015, where she chaired the Senate Small Business Committee, and the Energy Committee. She is now a consultant to Cigar Rights of America and the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association – two great organizations who lead the fight to protect the industry from government regulation.

As the article suggests:
-Aside from just Cuba, over 300,000 jobs are related to the cigar industry in Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic from seed to shore
-Without this employment, economic and political stability would be disrupted with costs to the American taxpayer in terms of foreign aid or other intervention
-Over 2000 U.S. retailers would be impacted needlessly as would responsible adults who enjoy premium hand-made cigars

The cigars we enjoy are made where people work or don’t eat – they need their jobs, they need our trade, not our foreign aid. We saw first-hand on our trip to Tabacalera Perdomo in Esteli, Nicaragua that each cigar is “the work of 1000 hands” through the various stages of production. Unemployment in the Esteli region is virtually zero in large part because of the cigar industry. Nicaragua in particular has areas of abject poverty and just a few decades ago was torn by a civil war that impacted American interests. The last thing the people of Nicaragua need is to have the progress and stability they’ve begun to achieve undone because somebody thinks you shouldn’t be able to smoke your cigar. People would be thrown out of work, trade impacted, and vulnerable governments destabilized. This nonsense has to stop. Please urge your representatives to not gut yet another industry – you work hard for your money & shouldn’t be punished because you like a premium hand-made cigar!