Stogie Guys Friday Sampler No. 346

As we have since July 2006, each Friday we’ll post a mixed bag of quick cigar news and other items of interest. Below is our latest Friday Sampler.

1) The number of smoking bans on college campuses has reached nearly 1,200, according to the Washington Post. The latest is American University where, starting yesterday, smoking has been criminalized, even outdoors, save for three designated spots that will be phased out before 2014. It bears repeating that empirical studies show no justification for outdoor smoking bans from a health perspective. What’s more, Columbia University researchers found that weak claims about outdoor bans can be “hazardous for public health policymakers, for whom public trust is essential.” Nonetheless, two other Washington-area campuses also recently became smoke-free: George Washington University and the University of Maryland at College Park.

2) There’s still time to enter to win one of two 18-count boxes of La Gloria Cubana Gilded Age cigars, courtesy of Famous Smoke Shop. The contest will be closed to new entries starting at midnight. So be sure to click here and enter if you haven’t already done so.

3) Inside the Industry: Tickets for Little Puff (a DC-area cigar event that benefits charity) go on sale today, but move quickly since tickets usually sell out within a few hours. Canton, Massachusetts, has become the first municipality in the country to raise the legal age for tobacco purchases to 21, so returning soldiers who are under the age of 21 can still fight for their country but cannot buy a cigar to celebrate their safe return.

4) Around the Blogs: Stogie Review reviews the Viva Republica Guerrilla Warfare. Cigar Fan fires up the Toraño Salutem Toro Major. Nice Tight Ash checks out the Tabacalera Artista Exactus Habano. Stogie Fresh rates the SACS Anacaona. Cigar Inspector inspects the León Jimenes Prestige.

5) Deal of the Week: This Silver Tray Special includes five fine cigars for just $26. Included are the limited edition Wild Bunch “Tony the Boss,” HC Habano², El Primer Mundo Black, Wynwood Honduras, and Rocky Patel Edge Maduro.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Flickr