Dave – John Hay Cigar company

“This is a major step backwards for New Hampshire in public health,” said Beth D’Ovidio, who handles public relations for Breathe New Hampshire. “We view it as the first chip at eroding the legislation that was passed that provided for smoke-free work environments for … bars and restaurants.”

On the health front, D’Ovidio said a single cigar can have the tobacco equivalent of an entire pack of cigarettes, not to mention the impact of secondhand smoke. The state Department of Health and Human Services opposed the bill because of potential exposure to secondhand smoke, and because cigar bars would be sharing building space with other entities, essentially sharing ventilation. Breathe New Hampshire is worried not only about the people smoking cigars but about those who will work in the environment, presumably those serving alcohol, D’Ovidio said.

“Secondhand smoke will escape into abutting properties and that they have been allowing smoking in these facilities already is a weakness in the legislation that passed through before,” D’Ovidio said.

“The notion that smoking a cigar is a hobby, not a habit — it’s still a high-risk behavior,” D’Ovidio said. “In fact, there are even some greater risks with cigars than smoking cigarettes.”

Along with more tobacco and all the chemicals that go along with it, secondhand cigar smoke is frequently more potent, and the slow-smoking nature of cigars makes for longer exposure, D’Ovidio said.

“People need to remember, a smoker is getting firsthand and secondhand smoke,” D’Ovidio said.

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They want you cigar smokers as much as they want us cigarette smokers. It does the cigar community a great harm to believe cigar smoking is above it somehow and that cigarette smokers are beneath you somehow. I, for one, resist allowing that common belief to interfere with defending cigar smokers even when the belief aggravates me to no end. Divide and conquer is exactly what the anti-smokers strive for. Don’t give in.

Cigars, on the other hand, when consumed in moderation, have never been proven to have the same type of detrimental health effects. They’re not marketed to children. They’re not designed to be consumed in large quantities. They don’t have the same deadly carcinogens (at least, I don’t think so. I actually would like mandatory ingredient listings on the box).

In short, the cigar industry needs to differentiate itself from the cigarette industry. They’re different products, consumed differently, with a different customer base. The only thing they have in common is one ingredient: tobacco.