The battle for our rights as cigar smokers

    I want to take a few moments to talk about some of the most important issues for cigar smokers to date; cigar bans and the FDA.

     Anyone who has smoked in the last twenty years will have noticed that the places a person can smoke a cigar, a perfectly legal product, are becoming increasingly limited.  We have been banned from restaurants, some bars, public parks and in some cases even our own backyards and homes.  This is an affront to the founding principals of our nation.  We are a country founded on the belief of individual freedom and we are having that freedom infringed upon more and more each year.

     Now we are facing a crisis even more dangerous to us than any smoking ban, control of the tobacco industry by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has been driven this authority under the guise of "protecting children from demon tobacco."   Cigar smokes over the years have turned a blind eye to the regulations and restrictions imposed on cigarettes saying, "Well, at least it isn't us." Well, now it is us.  The new powers given to the FDA gives them jurisdiction over the entire tobacco industry, including premium handmade cigars.

    How bad could that really be, you may ask.  Very bad indeed.  The FDA is seeking to impose the same restrictions that are currently in place for cigarettes and those new initiatives that are in the works on cigars as well.  That could mean a change to the cigar industry as we know it.

• Higher prices on every cigar in the form on a massive tax increase to pay for an entirely new federal tobacco bureaucracy. 
• A complete ban on any flavored OR flavor infused cigars, such as the Drew Estate Acid line.
• A restriction on any self service displays, meaning the end of the walk-in humidor at your local tobacconist.  
• A ban on cigar events involving any giveaways and any in store tasting events.
• The nationwide ban of Internet and mail order of cigars. 
• The restriction of any cigar advertising to black-and-white print ads only. 
• Graphic depictions of health warnings that could cover half of a cigar box, destroying the traditional decorative cigar boxes.
• The imposition of a limit on the nicotine contents in a cigar ending the strong cigar.
• The ban of any kind of branded merchandise such as hats and shirts. 
• Required FDA approval of any new blends, causing significant delays and a very expensive testing process that would put an end to limited run products and force many boutique cigar maker to close their doors.  

    These changes would destroy the pastime of cigar smoking that I have come to love.

    Do we have the power to stop this?  Fortunately we are not alone.  The Cigar Rights of America is working to have premium cigars exempted from FDA control.

   The CRA was formed by an unprecedented collaboration of the cigar industry  and has grown into a powerful grassroots organization of member cigar smokers from across the country.  I am a member.  As you may have seen, at the top of the page there is a banner declaring myself as a proud member.

  As to what YOU can do to stop the FDA, there are two bills in congress right now;  House Resolution 1639 and Senate Resolution 1461 collectively known as the Traditional Cigar Manufacturing & Small Business Preservation Act.  This act will separate premium cigars from cigarettes in the eyes of the law and keep the FDA away from our cigars.  But we need your help.  We need YOU to contact your Senators and Representatives and ask them to co-sponsor these resolutions. The CRA has made it easy for you, click the link at the bottom of this post or go to http://www.cigarrights.org/action and fill out the form there and it will send a letter to each of your congressmen for you.

     While you are there, please consider joining the Cigar Rights of America.  Anyone, from the occasional smoker who enjoys a cigar now and then to the seasoned cigar aficionado should consider joining.  They are fighting to preserve your right to enjoy your cigars and they deserve your support.  For a membership fee that is far less than your probably spend on premium cigars in a month, you get a year long membership in the organization and to help soften the cut into your cigar budget, you will receive two special limited edition cigars donated by some of CRAs  industry partners, such as Oliva, Arturo Fuente, Drew Estate, General Cigar, A. J.  Fernandez and many others.

   Together we can turn back the tide of anti-smoking legislation.

Expedition: Vitola!
Dan.

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