Want to Lose More Jobs? Ban Cigars
Seriously, it’s that simple. If your economy is getting a little overheated (and who’s isn’t?) and you need to apply the brakes a little to prevent a bubble from occurring then all you have to do is ban cigars. Just like the brilliant mayor of Orange County, Florida, the honorable Richard Crotty.
Apparently without any public hearings or prior publicity, Orange County Mayor Richard T. Crotty secretly signed an executive order late last year that has kept tens of millions of dollars from pouring into the local economy. At the same time, the jobs of thousands of county workers are being threatened, according to the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association.
Crotty signed an executive order that prohibits tobacco use by anyone in any workplace or public area on or in county property. The order was effective January 1, 2010. In addition, county employees are required to sign a ‘Tobacco Usage’ affidavit that swears they don’t smoke or be subject to a $25 fee per pay period – up to $650 per year. The alternative is for the employees who choose to smoke more than four cigars per year to quit their jobs.
From: PR Web
If you are a cigar smoker in this little slice of fascist heaven you risk losing your job because you partake in a legal activity.
According to Tom Ufer from the Tampa Cigar Examiner, this ban, which includes a ban on smoking cigars in many outdoor locations, comes on the heels of an indoor ban.
Several major cities, including Orlando, reside in Orange County and the local economy heavily relies on tourism.
The ordinance now outlaws the use of any tobacco product in areas such as outdoors at the Orange County Convention Center, County parks, fishing docks, boat ramps, outdoor trails, county owned parking lots, streets and sidewalks.
From: Tampa Cigar Examiner
Let’s recap the carnage: Orange County, Florida is fine with losing workers who smoke cigars and don’t want to pay the fine. They are also OK with losing cigar smoking tourists, which will lead to some more job losses. Also, according to Tom Ufer’s article, Orange County is using $6.6 million from stimulus funding to pay for this draconian anti-smoking law. If you keep track, that stimulus money was meant to spur job growth, not fund anti-smoking, Nazi block watchers.
And this from a county that is suffering some pretty bad unemployment numbers too! Yup, it’s over 12% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But smell that clean Florida air!
Unless you like losing jobs and tax revenue then it would probably be a good idea to oppose bans like this one. Just to get you on the right track you can oppose this ban by going on over to Tom’s article where he has so thoughtfully put up a list of the people who have a say over this ban: Orange County, FL politicians.
Orange County, Florida: Mayor Crotty bans use of tobacco products
Anti-Smoking Marketing
It’s all about marketing.
Make people think that the very safety of children is at stake when they are around smoke and you win most of the war. Make people think that the very safety of children is at stake whenever they see a smoker and you have won the war. Seriously, who’s against the safety of children?
And this isn’t a cigarette v. cigar thing either. Just because there are extra things added into cigarettes do you think that the smoke-Nazis won’t come after cigars as well? Of course they will!
Here’s a little insight into the minds of the smoke-Nazi marketing campaign:
That’s why so many health professionals are praising an article in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics. Authors of that study, from the Center for Child and Adolescent Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital and other health institutions, used the term “third-hand smoke.” And widespread attention to their work made “third-hand smoke” a part of the American vocabulary almost overnight.
That opened the doors for all of us to talk about how to protect our families and friends — especially children, the elderly and the sick — from a potentially serious health risk.
“It’s so valuable, the contribution of this term,” says Dr. Sumita Khatri, a pulmonologist at MetroHealth Medical Center who’s conducted research on air quality and asthma. “It just makes communication easier and faster.”
The smoke-Nazis think that “third hand” smoke is their silver bullet against us. They will use it to push for more regulations against cigar use and will use it to raise our taxes to ever greater heights.
SCHIP? That’s just a small step towards their ultimate goal of outlawing cigars. But, until they finally do reach that fateful moment when all the world’s children are safe from the menace that lingers on our clothes and in our hair for days after we smoke a cigar, they are content with taxing us as much as possible.
The budget proposal that [Pennsylvania] Gov. Rendell unveiled earlier this month includes a 10-cents-per-pack tax hike on cigarettes — up to $1.45 per pack — along with first-time taxes on cigars and smokeless tobacco.
The campaign to eradicate cigar smokers is based on half truths and marketing. Whenever the studies fail to scare voters enough they find terms, like “third hand smoke”, that will do the job scaring voters. Do we really want to lose our right to smoke cigars because the other side has better marketers than we do?
Maryland Cigar Smokers Fight Back
A couple of weeks ago I covered how Dallas was contemplating a new law that would outlaw the sale of single cigars so as to prevent the youths from hallowing them out and stuffing them with pot. Supposedly, if you outlaw the sale of single cigars (they want retailers to sell five packs, at least) then the cost will be prohibitive for high teens. Of course, this is ridiculous and is only meant to make it tougher for cigar smokers to get their hands on stogies.
Fortunately, a hearty few in Maryland are fighting back. From the Washington Post:
A cigar wholesaler, several retailers and a cigar enthusiast have filed suit against Prince George’s County, arguing that the county overstepped its legal authority when it adopted a ban on the sale of cigars in packages of less than five.
The County Council passed a bill in November that classified cigars in certain instances as drug paraphernalia and banned the sale of single cigars. The legislation, signed by County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D), was intended to curb the use of blunts, cigars hollowed out and filled with marijuana. The county was the first jurisdiction in the country to pass such legislation.
The cigar supporters filed suit in Prince George’s Circuit Court yesterday, arguing that tobacco laws should be passed by the state rather than counties. Saying that their business will be hurt by the legislation, which is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 8, the businesses and the cigar lover asked the court to enjoin the county from enforcing the law, declare it unconstitutional and award the plaintiffs $20 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
County spokesman John Erzen declined to comment on the litigation.
I’m beginning to wonder if there’s any place in this country (in the world?) where it’s kosher to smoke cigars anymore unhindered by the ever-growing reach of the government? It’s not looking like it.
Tougher Smoking Restrictions in Dallas
If you live in Dallas and frequent a bar that allows you to smoke your favorite cigar you might need to start looking for a new place to light up. Dallas has passed a new regulation that forbids the smoking of tobacco products in establishments that do not at least get 15% of their gross revenue from tobacco sales meant to be smoked on location.
Dallas’ newly expanded smoking ordinance, which city officials will begin enforcing April 10, will allow smoking in bars only if they generate at least 15 percent of their gross revenue from the “sale or rental of tobacco, tobacco products, smoking implements, or smoking accessories for on-premises consumption.” That percentage had to exist as of last Wednesday.
I’m not even sure how this is legal or if it would stand up to legal challenges. It just doesn’t seem right to outlaw smoking in a public place unless a certain percentage of revenues are realized from smoking on premises. Wouldn’t this fall under the Equal Protections clause?
One thing is for sure, though. More regulations are going to follow.
As a Cigar Smoker You are Hated
Here’s the last line from a story from the [Long Beach, CA] Press-Telegram:
Cigars may be legal, but just barely, and they should remain so only if they don’t intrude on our personal space.
A break for smokers – Press Telegram
This story doesn’t have a byline so there’s no way I can tell who wrote it but I can tell that this person is a coward.
“Ewww! I can’t stand that cigar smoke, get it away you mean, dirty man you. GET IT AWAY!!!!” this guy is saying in a weak, effeminate voice, of course.
See, since 1995 smoking has been totally outlawed indoors in public buildings in Long Beach and now, much to this smoke-Nazi’s chagrin, cigar lounges are being legalized. “DAMN!”
Frankly, once I started reading this opinion piece I thought the writer – or writers – represented an enlightened, conservative/libertarian mode of thinking. But after about halfway through this piece everything changed for the worse.
They go over the tired shtick of smoking tobacco equals cancer (really Scooter?) and therefore no one should be allowed to smoke. And then, which I found deliciously precious, they compared the amount of smoke at a couple of cigar social events to that of a busy freeway. And yet they didn’t call for the outlawing of cars on freeways.
These people who make hey about people making their own decisions are just sad, pathetic, little people. These are the same fascists who want to take soft drinks out of the playground and just kill all kinds of fun because, after all, fun kills.
