Cigars, Cigar Information and where to find Premium Cigars, Discounted Cigars and even Cheap Cigars

POLITICS TRUMPS TRUTH IN BALTIMORE

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Plus: British doctors call for “tobacco-free” country

Los Angeles, July 11 – The Baltimore Comptroller’s Office sent a letter to city officials on June 30, stating that the city’s proposal to ban the sale of individual cigars such as Black & Mild, game by Garcia y Vega, White Owl and others would be illegal because only the state has power to regulate tobacco sales. The letter, by a city attorney in the motor-fuel, alcohol and tobacco tax regulatory office, included this line:

I respectfully request that the proposed regulation be withdrawn, because the sale of cigars in an area of state pre-emption.

But on Tuesday, Comptroller Peter Franchot issued a statement disowning the letter prepared by his staff, saying it was not authorized and voicing support for the sales ban, introduced by Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon. Franchot said: “I have been a strong supporter of the fight to reduce teen smoking and limit the access of cigarettes and other tobacco products to our youth. I strongly support Baltimore city’s effort.”

The embarrassing turnaround underscored the thin legal ground for the ban. A similar proposal was not passed by the state’s legislature earlier this year and if Baltimore’s ban is implemented, the city will have to defend the regulation in court. “They will be sued,” said Bruce Bereano, a lobby for the Maryland Association of Tobacco and Candy Distributors, in an interview with the Baltimore Sun. “I would hope the comptroller’s comments and position would bring Baltimore City to [its] senses.”

In the meantime, the Mayor’s Office, Franchot and the city attorney’s office are trying to craft a regulation that will hold up in court. They say that premium cigars (those costing $2 or more each) will not be affected by the restrictions.

Writing on the online site of the B free daily, reporter Lori Barrett noted that “Everyone knows tobacco isn’t the real target of this ban, but rather what the cigars are re-rolled with after purchase. Should the city be spending so much time and money to further regulate our lives?”

British doctors: tobacco-free Britain by 2035

The BBC reported that the British Medical Association, at its annual meeting last week, called for measures that it said would “make ensuring the UK was tobacco-free by 2035 a realistic aim.”

The BBC report noted:

“[A]lthough the UK had quite restrictive tobacco legislation in place already, young people were susceptible to creative marketing strategies such as elaborate point-of-sale displays, attractive pack designs and brand imagery.”

“In particular, the report called for all films and TV programmes which portray positive images of smoking to be preceded by an anti-smoking advert, and for film censors to take into account pro-smoking content when classifying films.”

“It is essential that further action is taken to promote a tobacco-free lifestyle that deglamourises smoking,” said Dr. Vivienne Nathanson of the BMA. Gerard Hastings of Cancer Research UK, said that children will only be adequately protected when “tobacco promotion and marketing in all its forms ceases to exist.”

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Did you know?

“A record for U.S. cigar consumption was set in 1965 after the Surgeon General's warning about cigarettes in 1964.