The Stogie Guys

President Obama this week named Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as his choice to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She was picked after the president’s original nominee, former Senator Tom Daschle, withdrew his nomination after it was revealed that he failed to pay over $120,00 in taxes.

Sebelius has a record for pushing both smoking bans and tobacco tax hikes and, while neither has gone into effect yet in Kansas, her attempts to impose a draconian statewide smoking ban are ongoing. The proposed smoking ban would include all bars and restaurants, and also restrict smoking outside near doors, windows, or “air intakes.”

In an editorial interview with the Wichita Eagle, Sebelius praised smoking bans and tobacco taxes, saying they “absolutely cost nothing.” She clearly fails to recognize the heavy burden of tobacco taxes, especially on lower income citizens, and she also ignores the infringements on personal choice and property rights that result from smoking bans. She called tobacco taxes “win-win” in the same interview and criticized efforts to add exemptions to the proposed smoking ban.

Statements like those have drawn fire from cigar choice advocates like Chris McCalla, legislative director of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association. “Based on impartial data generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Reserve Bank has found that significant employment declines result from forced smoking bans, especially in bars and restaurants,” he said. “That means businesses die, workers lose their jobs, and the state and nation lose federal, state, and local tax revenues.”

McCalla went on to say that the constitutional rights of business owners are at stake when governments impose smoking bans on private property. “The marketplace has been very effective deciding which businesses elect to allow smoking or not. That’s as it should be: up to the individual business owner. For government to control private businesses is depriving citizens of the rights given to them by the U.S. Constitution.”

If confirmed as secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebelius would be in a position to oversee national health policy and impose her anti-tobacco positions on the entire country.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

It seems like every week another study comes out on the subject of tobacco. Nearly all are done by advocates of increased “tobacco control” (a euphemism for higher tobacco taxes and expanded smoking bans) and they all seem to come to the same conclusion: more “tobacco control” is needed.

Now if the tobacco industry was presenting study after study that concluded that we need fewer smoking bans and lower tobacco taxes, you can bet that reporters and politicians wouldn’t blindly believe their claims. When the anti-tobacco industry has a study that agrees with their anti-tobacco agenda, however, the results are dutifully reported as scientific fact without so much as a second look.

But if the media and politicians aren’t doing their jobs, who can you turn to to get a straight scoop? One of the best sources is Michael Siegel, who runs a blog called The Rest of the Story.

Siegel, himself a doctor and professor of public health, is an unlikely foe of anti-tobacco activists, especially since he is an advocate of workplace smoking bans. According to a bio on Siegel’s organization, The Center for Public Accountability in Tobacco Control, Siegel is “a physician with 21 years of experience in tobacco control who recently became disillusioned by the direction in which the anti-smoking movement is going.”

According to Siegel, more and more “[t]he tactics being used by many anti-smoking organizations have become questionable, including misleading and deceiving the public, improperly attacking individuals, and improperly using kids to promote a political agenda.” When anti-tobacco activists deemed those who question the link between second hand smoke and lung cancer the equivalent of “holocaust deniers,” Siegel called them out for their fanaticism.

As a doctor and researcher, Siegel has the technical background to examine the methodology of studies to see if the conclusions claimed are actually supported. He finds that they regularly aren’t, such as the often-repeated claim that just a few minutes of exposure to second hand smoke has negative lasting health effects.

Siegel’s writings are invaluable in exposing the “ends justify the means” nature of much of the anti-tobacco movement, whose once possibly well-intentioned aims seem to have turned into an all-out propaganda campaign against an individual’s right to smoke.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Actonel

Buried beneath the media’s coverage of the looming stimulus package was a story of utmost importance for cigar enthusiasts: A new bill was introduced in the House that would bring America’s 46-year-old prohibition on travel to Cuba to an end.

“The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act, introduced Feb. 4 and referred to the Foreign Relations Committee, prohibits the U.S. president from regulating or prohibiting travel to or from Cuba by U.S. residents, except in times of war between the two countries or of imminent danger to public health or the safety of U.S. travelers.”

As I wrote almost two years ago, trekking to Cuba is about as difficult as finding a cigar-friendly bar. The task, needless to say, involves bending a few rules, “tipping” Mexican customs officials, and eliminating paper trails.

This new bill would do away with all that. And, with a new administration in place, it could even pass. Regular readers will recall we cited Obama’s willingness to change America’s antiquated policies towards Cuba as one of the only cigar-related positives of his campaign.

“The bill or amendments like it have become a staple in Washington, where the measures flopped in the face of veto threats. Last year, a similar bill had more than 100 sponsors. But with more Democrats in Congress and a new president—one who has vowed to lift some of former President George W. Bush’s restrictions on Cuban family travel—the climate could be different.”

Time to Lift the Failed Embargo

When JFK signed the commercial, economic, and financial embargo on Cuba in 1962 (immediately after hypocritically securing himself a stash of soon-to-be criminalized sticks), it was thought that such restrictions would cripple Castro’s regime. That obviously didn’t work. In fact, the embargo allowed Castro to scapegoat the U.S. for his nation’s own problems and likely helped him to hold power longer than otherwise would have been possible.

Second, while there are many brutal dictatorships around the world, for some reason the U.S. government only imposes an embargo and travel ban on Cuba. In fact, other communist countries like China and Vietnam have become increasingly capitalist and liberal as we have traded with them. I continue to be perplexed by the illegality of Cuban cigars and the legality of filling up my car with gas from countries that support terrorism.

For these reasons and more—not the least of which is the potential to ease the suffering of the Cuban people—the embargo should have been lifted decades ago. Legislation to eliminate the travel ban is a small step in the right direction, and it deserves the support of every brother of the leaf who hopes to legally purchase Petit Edmundos and Siglo VIs in his lifetime.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Flickr

Thanks to politicians, self-interested health organizations, and biased doctors, most of us probably don’t fully understand the many advantages of tobacco. It may surprise you to learn that smoking cigars poses some serious health benefits. That’s right. Benefits.

I discovered some of tobacco’s benefits when a letter from Dr. William Campbell Douglass II came across my desk this week. Once voted “Doctor of the Year” by the National Health Federation, Dr. Douglass says, “When practiced in moderation, smoking can load you up with health benefits you never imagined possible.”

The letter, which likely dates back to 2004 when Dr. Douglass’ The Health Benefits of Tobacco was published, says the author is not on Big Tobacco’s payroll and does not advocate smoking in excess. But he does say “mountains of evidence” suggest smoking and health are not necessarily at odds.

According to Dr. Douglass, smoking can:

• Slash your risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
• Improve your memory and concentration
• Help prevent thyroid, breast, and skin cancer
• Produce new blood vessel growth around blocked arteries

Moreover, brothers of the leaf have an advantage over cigarette smokers because stogie manufacturers don’t add dangerous chemicals and fiberglass to their products like cigarette companies do. That’s why, to improve cardiovascular health, Dr. Douglass sometimes prescribes “three delicious cigars a day.”

Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Maybe it is. As I wrote in a similar commentary about 16 months ago, I’m not a doctor and I don’t have the training or resources to fully examine Dr. Douglass’ claims.

Still, I thought bringing this to your attention was important. It seems nowadays, when it comes to cigars and risk, there’s more misinformation out there than information. And we can’t rely on special interest groups to find the truth.

So, if you’re interested, I implore you to seek out empirical evidence and continue to read about cigars and health with an open mind. Even though the notion of tobacco health benefits might seem crazy, is it any crazier than blindly accepting faulty “scientific” advice from the very groups that have fueled and profited from the fanatic anti-smoking movement?

–Patrick A

photo credit: Flickr

[Updated at 3pm Eastern with a response from Altadis USA.]

In a late addition to our last Friday Sampler, we reported the latest Senate version of SCHIP includes slightly higher cigar taxes than previously reported. Here are some other important updates on the cigar legislation front:

Rocky Patel: SCHIP Divides Handmade, Machine-Made Cigar Makers

This weekend StogieGuys.com spoke with cigar maker Rocky Patel for an interview that will be published in full here in the near future. One thing Rocky made clear is that, when it comes to SCHIP’s tobacco taxes, the different tax rates for premium handmade cigars and inexpensive machine-made cigars make it difficult to tell friend from foe.

According to Patel, some cigar producers that make both handmade and machine-made cigars, including industry giant Altadis, were willing to accept higher taxes on handmade cigars if it meant lower taxes on their cheaper, higher-volume, machine-made cigars. In his exclusive interview, Patel indicated a tax cap of 20 cents per large cigar or less (as opposed to the currently proposed 40.27 cents) would have been possible if not for resistance from those who sell machine-made cigars.

“The problem here is that in raising the revenue that Congress wants, they make 4.7 billion machine-made cigars, we make 300 million handmade premium cigars,” the famed cigar maker told StogieGuys.com. “So every time they pay an extra penny, it saves us a lot of money on the amount of cap that we pay on the handmade side. But they weren’t willing to go up a couple pennies so we could go down to twenty [cents per cigar].”

This issue is part of the reason why Patel strongly supports Cigar Rights of America, which he says will look out exclusively for the interests of premium handmade cigar smokers.

UPDATE: Janelle Rosenfeld, vice president of marketing premium cigars and corp. communications for Altadis USA, took issue with the way her company’s role in fighting taxes on premium cigars was portrayed by Mr. Patel.

“Unlike Mr. Patel, Altadis USA is the largest manufacturer of premium cigars and owns and operates its own cigar factories including the largest hand-made cigar factory in the world. We, in fact, have a much larger vested interest in the tax and cap than Mr. Patel. For him to suggest otherwise is inaccurate,” she said. “Altadis USA takes great pride in our quality premium cigars and is committed to our premium cigar retailers and consumers at every turn.” Rosenfeld also said that Altadis and other tradegroups had been instrumental in lowering the tax cap from its initially proposed amount of $10 to its current form of 40.27 cents.

FDA Regulation Coming with Exemption For Cigars

Likely to soon come up again in Congress—and likely to become law this time—is a proposal to regulate tobacco under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But the controversial plan hasn’t generated as much opposition in the cigar world as the SCHIP bill. That’s because its fairly far-reaching provisions, from prohibitions on adding flavors to restrictions on advertising and new brands, center almost exclusively on cigarettes.

Chris McCalla, Legislative Director for the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association, recently told StogieGuys.com that cigars and pipe tobacco would not be subject to those sorts of FDA restrictions without further extensive action that isn’t expected any time soon. And while imposition of strict FDA regulation on cigars could be devastating to premium handmade cigars, some say it’s unlikely such action will ever happen.

Pipe Tobacco Versus Roll Your Own

Speaking of pipe tobacco, you may have wondered, as we have, about the SCHIP provision to boost the per pound federal tax on pipe tobacco from $1.0969 to $2.8311, while roll-your-own tobacco is increased from $1.0969 to a staggering $24.78 (creating a tenfold difference between RYO and pipe tobacco). What the heck makes tobacco RYO so different from pipe tobacco? Well, it turns out the answer is not much.

Federal definitions are vague, and right now it doesn’t matter because tax rates are the same. But when there’s change, what’s to stop RYO makers from just labeling their product pipe tobacco? According to a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, they don’t have an answer. “This is an issue that we recognize as being problematic should the legislation pass,” he said. When it does, the first thing the bureau will do is study the issue to see about tightening up those definitions.

–Patrick S & George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

[UPDATE: According to the IPCPR, the tax cap will be 40 cents per large cigar. Please click here for their full press release. The tax portions of the bill can be downloaded here (pdf) and the full bill can be downloaded here (285 page pdf).]

Well, it looks like today we’ll all finally learn just what the new federal tax will be on cigars. No more speculation and rumor. The facts will be laid out in the bill to reauthorize the 11-year-old State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which is slated for a vote in the House of Representatives Wednesday or Thursday.

Federal budget crunchers were working the numbers Monday, trying to see if everything adds up. Apparently, the increased tax revenue—largely from a cigarette tax boost—isn’t now sufficient to expand and fund a five-year plan. So, there’s consideration of shortening the time frame and coming back again in a few years.

As I write this Monday night, the final SCHIP bill hasn’t been released. It’s anticipated this morning, and the first place you’re likely to find it is on the House Rules Committee site or on Thomas.gov. Groups involved with tobacco, such as the IPCPR and the National Association of Tobacco Outlets, will also be on top of it.

For most of you reading this, the heart of the issue is what happens with large cigars, the category that includes premium sticks. One provision that could have devastated small cigar shops, a floor tax on inventory, has been shelved. And the plan to boost the cap on individual cigars—currently about a nickel—appears also to have been scaled back.

When President Bush vetoed the previous SCHIP bill, the cap was $3. There has been intense lobbying to push it down more. A few weeks ago, a number of reports put the cap proposal at $1. Over the weekend, a couple of retail shop owners told me they’d heard the cap would be 40-45 cents. A GOP staffer on the Hill told Patrick S on Monday that he was hearing cap figures between 39 cents and $1.

Jeff Borysiewicz, an executive at the gigantic Corona Cigar Co. and executive vice president of Cigar Rights of America, said Monday night that even if the tax ends up at the lowest of those ranges, he won’t be satisfied.

“I don’t feel good about what’s happened,” he told me. The group was among those arguing for a percentage tax increase equivalent to the 156.4 percent boost for cigarettes. That would have put the cigar cap between 12 and 13 cents.

Borysiewicz said he’s convinced that a tax even in the 40-cent range will have significant negative repercussions on manufacturers, importers, retailers and customers as it ripples through the market.

As you read the figures in the new bill, bear this in mind: What you see today is almost certain to become law. SCHIP enjoys strong support from key GOP and Democratic lawmakers, and what the House approves is what the Senate will vote on. Though there has been a lot of talk about having the legislation ready for a Jan. 20 signing by President Obama on Inauguration Day, I’m told it’s highly unlikely the Senate will vote by then.

–George E

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Just as we have the past two years, today we take a look back at the highlights from the last 365 days of cigar coverage. Our regular Friday Sampler will return next week. Here are some highlights from the third year of StogieGuys.com:

-On January 3 Patrick A enjoyed the CAO America.

-On January 10 Patrick S interviewed Robert Spoden of Bucanero Cigars.

-On January 17 Patrick A tried the new Zippo Blu lighter.

-On January 23 George E gave a Tatuaje Havana VI a five-stogie rating.

-On January 31 George E took a look at which rare smokes get a five-stogie rating.

-On February 20 we asked if it was time to re-evaluate the Cuban embargo.

-On February 25 Patrick S gave the Cuban Cohiba Siglo VI five stogies.

-On February 27 we spoke with Don Giolito of Illusione cigars.

-On March 3 we named three Gold Star Smokes.

-On March 5 Patrick A interviewed Tim Ozgener of CAO Cigars.

-On March 10 we recapped the DC Stogie Guys Smoke Out.

-On March 20 Patrick A and George E reviewed the Fuente Double Chateau Sun Grown.

-On March 25 Patrick A reviewed the EO 601 “Blue” Maduro.

-On April 1 a Dutch Master earned a perfect 5 coutesy of April Fools Day.

-On April 7 Patrick A gave the Cuban Cohiba Pyramide 2006 EL four stogies.

-On April 15 Jon N gave tips on enjoying cigars during a recession.

-On April 28 George E gave the Tatuaje Havana VI Verocu No. 1 five stogies.

-On May 5 George E interviewed Darryl Isler of Isla de Cuba Cigar.

-On May 12 Patrick S smoked the Fuente Anejo Shark.

-On May 28 Patrick A gave the Fuente Opus X four stogies.

-On June 4 Patrick A reviewed the famous Cuban Montecristo No. 2.

-On June 17 George E said, with cigars, quitting is the difference.

-On June 30 the Cuban Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill earned a 5-stogie rating.

-On July 3 George E implored us not to forget our local B&Ms.

-On July 15 Patrick S and Jon N concluded their IPCPR Trade Show coverage.

-On July 21 Jon N wrote in defense of mild cigars.

-On July 22 George E gave the Tatuaje Black a rating of five stogies.

-On July 24 we paired up the winning combination of Morton’s steak and PG cigars.

-On August 6 Patrick S tried the Johnnie Walker Gold Label.

-On August 13 George E gave three tips for enhancing your smoking experience.

-On August 27 Patrick A asked, “Is the Cuban cigar hype justified?”

-On September 2 Patrick S looked at cigar/golf gadgets.

-On September 17 George E gave the Cubao No. 6 four and 1/2 stogies.

-On September 24 we listed 9 reasons to buy more cigars.

-On September 29 Patrick A gave the Cuban Bolivar Royal Corona a 5-stogie rating.

-On October 6 Patrick A wrote don’t overlook boutique cigars.

-On October 21 Patrick S interviewed Eddie Ortega of EO Cigars.

-On October 27 we looked at the presidential candidates’ stances on cigar issues.

-On October 29 we editorialized and urged our readers to “vote for cigar rights.”

-On November 4 Patrick S reviewed the new Cohiba Puro Dominicana.

-On November 5 Patrick A recommended Jameson Irish whiskey.

-On November 17 Patrick S gave the Arganese Edición Especial our highest rating.

-On November 18 George E wrote that older cigars aren’t always better.

-On December 1 we published a video interview with Kevork and Paul Garmirian.

-On December 4 Patrick A sampled the Jameson Gold Reserve Irish whiskey.

-On December 8 Patrick S reviewed the Davidoff Maduro R.

-On December 9 George E  wondered about pipes and green wrappers.

-On December 29 we offered up three more Gold Star Smokes.

-On December 30 Patrick S evaluated the influence of Cigar Aficionado.

As you can see, once again we’ve had quite a year. Be sure to keep reading in 2009 for more informative and entertaining articles from the world of cigars. And if there’s something you’d like to see us cover, please let us know.

–The Stogie Guys

photo credit: Stogie Guys