Weekly Cigar News Sampler: Cigarette Maker Pledges Nearly $1 Billion to Fight Smoking, House Passes Funding Bill with FDA Cigar Exemption, and More

As we have since July 2006, each Friday we’ll post our sampling of cigar news and other items of interest from the week. Below is our latest, which is the 547th in the series.

1) Philip Morris International will provide $80 million annually over 12 years, beginning in 2018, to fund the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, an organization which aims to eliminate smoking worldwide. According to a statement issued Wednesday, the organization will focus on four main areas: (1) supporting research into harm reduction and building research capacity through academic centers, (2) building consensus around which interventions can best reduce harm and deaths from smoking and increase smoking cessation, (3) measuring and reporting on global progress towards smoking harm reduction, and (4) identifying alternative crops and livelihoods for tobacco farmers as the global demand for tobacco declines. “While the new foundation appears to be a rare example of a consumer-goods company supporting efforts to undermine sales of its own products, its creation was greeted with skepticism by one anti-smoking organization,” reports Bloomberg. In addition, “More than three million smokers have switched to Philip Morris’s IQOS, which heats rather than burns tobacco. The Marlboro maker has applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval to market the device as a product that may reduce the risk of smoking-related diseases.”

2) Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a twelve-bill spending package that includes a provision prohibiting the FDA from enforcing regulations against premium cigars. The omnibus appropriations package passed the House with a 211-198 vote and will now move to the Senate for consideration. Congress has until December 8th to pass spending legislation and fund the federal government. IPCPR President Ken Neumann commented on the development: “This is a monumental step for the industry and for IPCPR’s retailers. For many years, we’ve been pushing the ball forward in our efforts to roll back the FDA’s oversized and ill-suited regulatory regime on premium cigars.”

3) Starting January 1, smoking will no longer be permitted anywhere at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus, according to the Lincoln Journal Star. Nebraska joins over 1,700 other colleges and universities—including all of its Big Ten peers—that have already implemented campus-wide smoke-free policies. In addition to cigars, the ban covers cigarettes, hookahs, e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and synthetic smoking products, and it extends to all university areas, including parking lots, garages, buildings, and university vehicles.  The campus is home to over 25,000 students.

4) Inside the Industry: With so many cigar companies headquartered in Florida, the industry braced for damages caused by Hurricane Irma. Fortunately, the damage seems to have been manageable. Although numerous companies faced disruptions and power outages, no substantial damages have been reported.

5) From the Archives: Fancy lighters are great, but sometimes simplicity is even better. As we wrote over decade ago, unless you’re facing significant winds, wooden matches are frequently the best way to light your cigar.

6) Deal of the Week: For today only, here are 100 deals, including cigars from Ashton, Oliva, Tatuaje, Rocky Patel, Davidoff, Drew Estate, and more. Free shipping is included on any purchase. If you really want to stock up, add promo code “GBP20D” at checkout to knock $20 off an order of $150 or more.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Flickr