The Stogie Guys

Over the past year, the looming regulation of cigars by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has been front and center as the most pressing threat to cigar rights. And rightfully so. FDA regulation would likely drive up prices, stifle innovation and new blends, eliminate or limit promotions and advertisements for cigars, and mandate health risk warning labels.

But smoking bans still constitute a significant infringement on our freedom to enjoy a premium handmade cigar. And anti-tobacco zealots are always pushing for new bans while lobbying to make existing bans stricter. Recently, two stories caught my attention, one because the size of the state, the other because of the egregiousness of the proposal.

Texas Smoking Ban Back on the Table

With the issue gaining momentum for the new legislative session, some expect Texas, the second-largest state by population, to be the 29th U.S. state to pass a ban. A proposal has been introduced that would ban “at all indoor and outdoor workplaces, including restaurants and bars, with exemptions for outdoor restaurant or bar patios set aside for smokers,” according to NACS. “Also exempt would be tobacco bars opened prior to 2013.”

This isn’t the first time politicians and special interest groups have tried to pass a smoking ban in Texas. But advocates of the regulation seem confident this push will be successful, and they are no doubt relishing the possibility of a smoking ban in a large southern state that has traditionally been hesitant to the idea of government control of business.

Virginia County Considering Outdoor Ban

While Virginia has been under a statewide indoor ban since 2009 that criminalizes smoking in restaurants, bars, and other workplaces, officials in Fairfax County—an affluent suburb of Washington—are eyeing tougher restrictions. Gerry Hyland, a Democrat on the county’s Board of Supervisors, wants to ban smoking on all outdoor public property, including parks.

No stranger to anti-tobacco measures, Hyland, according to the Washington Examiner, “had been pushing similar legislation since November that would have banned smoking by current county employees and permitted the county to consider job applicants’ use of tobacco products when hiring them.” That proposal was shot down for being a bit too radical.

Once thought ridiculous, outdoor smoking bans are becoming more prominent, the foremost example being New York City’s criminalization of smoking in parks. And one has to wonder if the idea of prohibiting tobacco use among employees will catch on with public (and maybe also private) employers.

–Patrick A

photo credit: N/A

In recent years, the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) has gone out of its way to crack down on non-members visiting its annual Trade Show. The IPCPR made it clear that not only were consumers not welcome, but that legitimate members, especially retailers, who brought consumers to the show could face repercussions. (Complicating matters was a debate about the status of internet media outlets.)

Now the IPCPR has officially moved to change that, and welcome consumers—specifically the cigar smoking public—to their show, for at least part of one day. Just before the new year, John Anderson, chairman of the IPCPR Board Trade Show Committee and co-owner of W. Curtis Draper’s in Washington, DC, sent an email to IPCPR members (of which StogieGuys.com is an online media member) announcing the changes, which he says are already being planned:

In an effort to raise funds for our continued and ever more expensive legislative battles, the IPCPR Board Trade Show Committee is planning two events to take place at the 2013 annual Trade Show in Las Vegas.

The first event under consideration is a Consumer Day that will take place on the last half-day of the show.

• The goal of the event is to generate $100,000 for our legislative battles.
• Each ticket will include a pre-packaged assortment of select cigars purchased by the IPCPR from volunteer manufacturers, as well as a chance to walk the Trade Show floor to meet and interface with the individuals behind the brands in the industry.
• This event will be limited to the first 500 consumers who purchase tickets (ticket price TBD based on cigar selections & cost).

The second event under consideration is a Roast. This will be an elaborate event featuring:

• A celebrity comedian as the host, a panel of well-known industry “roasters,” and a carefully selected “roastee.”
• Tickets for the Roast will cost $ (TBD based on catering selections) and will include entry to the event, heavy hors d’ oeuvres, and an open bar.
• Tables and sponsorship opportunities will be available for purchase.
• The roast will be open to the consumers who attended the Consumer Day as well as the industry and will make for a lighthearted conclusion to a busy week of work.

All money raised from the events will go directly towards funding legislative pursuits.

Analysis

The move represents a radical departure for the IPCPR, which has maintained that the Trade Show is primarily an event for buying and selling cigars. But it is not an illogical move. As we’ve noted many times, there is much for the cigar industry to do when it comes to protecting cigars from government regulation, taxation, and prohibition, and the IPCPR is one of the groups doing important work to defend cigars from anti-tobacco zealots.

While the goal—more funds to protect cigars from legislative attacks—is clearly worthwhile, the proposal raises a number of issues which should be addressed.

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With so many cigars out there, cigar companies are looking for every edge to persuade smokers to give their cigars a shot, even having professional athletes promote their smokes.

Ted’s Cigars is doing this with one of the best-known race car drivers in the world, Dale Earnhardt Jr. The company, which makes officially licensed Gran Marnier and Maker’s Mark flavored cigars, in addition to their non-flavored Ted’s Made by Hand line, announced today that they are releasing an officially licensed Dale Jr. “88” Cigar.

Curiously, the toro-sized cigar itself isn’t new. It’s the same blend that has been sold for some time as the Ted’s Made by Hand Connecticut Shade Tube (one which received an 88 rating, the same number as Jr.’s car). The new packaging, however, features Dale Jr.’s signature and 88 logo. The cigar comes in single cigars, three-packs, boxes of 10 and 25, and will sell for around $11 each.

Also joining the celebrity athlete cigar endorsers is legendary Hall of Fame NFL player and coach, Mike Ditka. Under a partnership with Camacho, “Da Coach” will develop a series of new cigar lines carrying the Ditka name, which will be made at Camacho’s Tabacos Rancho Jamastran in Honduras.

The first Camacho-produced Ditka cigar (Mike Ditka has had multiple other cigars sold under his name) is being introduced at a dinner at Ditka’s Chicago restaurant next Friday where he will be signing boxes for all those in attendance. Three blends are being introduced, with one box included with the purchase of a ticket to the launch dinner.

For those wondering, this isn’t a new phenomenon. Other athletes with their own cigar lines include Dennis Rodman, Luis Tiant, Gary Sheffield and Sonny Jurgenson.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

The next step in the conflict over the FDA’s plan to regulate premium cigars is likely to come from the agency rather than Congress. An FDA spokeswoman told me that there’s no date set for issuing a proposed rule, which it first broached in the spring of 2011. “Sometime in the future,” was as close as she said she could come on the timing.

When the rule is published in the Federal Register, there will be a period for public comment, likely at least 45 days. To make sure you know what’s going on and have an opportunity to register your view when the FDA begins action, sign up for an email subscription to “This Week in CTP.”

Recent elections had an impact on the legislative efforts to stop the FDA, which we touched on earlier this month. The effects were stronger in the House of Representatives, where the bill to protect cigars (HR 1639) had bipartisan support from more than half the members. The bill’s author, Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL), won re-election and remains committed to it. I talked to George Cecala in his office, and he told me they’re continuing to educate members and to build support.

I have a call in to Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) who introduced the Senate version, and I’ll let you know what I hear from them.

As you’re no doubt aware by now, the likelihood of FDA regulation devastating the cigar industry is very real. I believe the efforts of cigar smokers helped build support for the legislation, and if you haven’t gotten in touch with your elected officials, there’s no time like now. Just search “1639” on Stogie Guys and you’ll find everything you need to know.

This is no time to let up. Every cigar smoker needs to stay involved and help win this fight.

–George E

photo credit: FDA

I was stunned when I learned about North Dakota voting for an extremely restrictive smoking ban. I lived for a couple of years in the Great Plains, and it isn’t the area I think would take such action. In fact, an oft-repeated joke was, “People say Midwesterners don’t question things. But that’s not true. They question everything. The question they ask is, ‘Why would we want to do that?’”

If you’re not familiar with North Dakota, here are a few random facts from my research to provide a little prospective. The population is under 700,000, putting it above only Vermont and Wyoming. Republicans have a near-lock on statewide political offices. It has the lowest state unemployment rate (3%), ranks 24th in percentage of cigarette smokers, is home to three of the nation’s 100 poorest counties, and ranks 41st in per capita income. Among its attractions are Salem Sue, the world’s largest cow (six tons of fiberglass); the geographic center of North America in Rugby; the Roger Maris Baseball Museum; and numerous wildlife refuges and parks.

Other November referendums were to repeal a poll tax on the books for more than 100 years (approved) and to strengthen what have been described as extraordinarily lax animal cruelty laws (defeated).

“I thought we would be one of the last places this would happen,” said Todd Pryor in Minot, North Dakota, home to a noted Air Force base. “You know, cowboys…” For Pryor, with whom I spoke by phone, this isn’t a philosophical discussion. It’s business, pure and simple. Or, perhaps more accurately, lack of business.

Pryor is the owner of the Great Plains Smoke Shop in Minot, one of the few traditional tobacco shops in the state. His shop is also coupled with a cigar bar, where smoking had been permitted. Under the new law, that’s forbidden. And Pryor can’t simply open a smoking lounge in the shop portion because the law bans that, too.

Before the election, Pryor said, there was little, if any, opposition activity from tobacco companies, smoking rights groups, or even electronic cigarette organizations, whose non-tobacco devices fall under the law as well. The only news coverage I could find on the potential impact focused exclusively on cigarette smoking, and a reporter who covered the issue in Fargo, North Dakota’s largest city, told me she hadn’t written about cigars.

When the law goes into effect, probably next month, Pryor’s only smoking option will be to set up a patio area at least 20 feet from the shop’s door, with just a roof or fence allowed as structures. Even with heaters and thermal underwear, outdoor smoking in Minot—where the average high doesn’t even hit 60 degrees seven months of the year and rests below freezing in December, January, and February—is at best a sometimes thing.

Pryor said he doesn’t know yet what the impact of the ban will be on his seven-year-old shop. He’s not sure he’ll be able to keep the bar going. And how do his customers feel about all this? “They’re pissed as hell,” Pryor said.

–George E

photo credit: Flickr

Yesterday, voters in North Dakota and Missouri decided on ballot questions that will impact cigar rights in those states. While Missouri voters rejected the anti-tobacco “Prop B,” voters in North Dakota approved Measure 4.

North Dakota’s Measure 4, a statewide smoking ban to criminalize indoor smoking in virtually all “public” places including cigar shops, overwhelmingly passed 66% to 34%. The law calls for violators of the restrictive ban to be fined $50, and for a bar proprietor who allowed smoking in spite of the ban to have his or her liquor and tobacco sales licenses revoked. Arguments made by cigar smokers and the hospitality industry that the blanket smoking ban would infringe on property rights, harm small businesses, and unfairly restrict personal choices to smoke were not enough to overcome intense lobbying by anti-tobacco groups.

Prop. B in Missouri would have increased the state tax on cigars by 15% if passed, but the move appears to have failed by a slim margin. The latest numbers show “no” with 50.8% and “yes” with 40.2%, with a 42,000 vote difference out of nearly 2.7 million votes cast.

Any revenue from the tax increase was to be earmarked in equal proportions for education and smoking cessation programs, but critics point out that politicians regularly and easily raid such funds, so there was no guarantee of any net funding increase in the designated areas. Further, some people cautioned that raising the tobacco tax would just drive cigarette sales to neighboring states, and presumably would drive cigar sales to online retailers.

It’s not clear if the margin of defeat for Proposition B is enough to avoid a lengthy recount process. In early June voters in California narrowly rejected a 73% tobacco tax increase but, due to an extended recount and certification process, the result wasn’t finalized until a little over a month ago.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Following a disturbing trend, officials in Toronto are considering measures that would criminalize smoking in certain outdoor areas of the fifth largest city in North America.

“Toronto’s board of health will launch a series of public consultations on a proposed expansion of the city’s smoking ban,” writes CTV News. “The board came to the decision after reviewing a report calling for an expansion of the city’s anti-smoking by-laws at their meeting Monday afternoon…Under the proposed expansion, smokers would be prohibited from smoking on hospital property, public fields, restaurant patios, and the entrances and exits of most city buildings.”

Before Toronto officials vote on the expansion of the city’s smoking regulations, a period of “public consultations” will be held. Shortly thereafter, in 2013, Toronto’s chief physician, Dr. David McKeown, will present the findings of the consultations to members of the city council, who will then vote on the smoking ban expansions. Some indication of the council’s leaning on this matter may be gleaned from the fact that members voted unanimously this week to launch the consultations.

Outdoor Smoking Bans on the Rise

Once thought laughable, outdoor smoking bans are quickly becoming more commonplace, rendering the harmless act of enjoying a cigar in a city park a criminal activity. When New York City banned smoking in parks, plazas (including Times Square), and beaches, it was perhaps the most notable example, but certainly not the first.

“New York follows in the footsteps of 105 municipalities (in states including California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and New Jersey) that have banned smoking on public beaches,” wrote CNN back in 2011. “Major cities include Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Seattle. In states including California, Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, and New Jersey, 507 municipalities impose laws that prohibit city parks, or specifically named city parks, to allow smoking. Major cities include Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Salt Lake City.”

More recently, London appears poised to join the ranks of cities that ban outdoor smoking.

If this trend continues, it may not be long before the only place to legally enjoy a cigar is inside your own home or on your own property. This is no time to be complacent. Anti-tobacco zealots will not rest until smoking is outlawed completely. Many thanks to those of you who have donated your time, money, and voices to the noble cause of cigar rights.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Flickr