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| CIGAR COSTS MINISTER HIS JOB |
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Page 1 of 2  Plus: Tobacco saving lives again!Los Angeles, July 24 – A cigar ended the ministerial career of Welsh Culture Minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas. Already being watched carefully after he embarrassed himself at the Wales Book of the Year awards by announcing the wrong person as the winner, Thomas violated the stern Welsh anti-smoking law by walking into a well-known pub near the Welsh Assembly with a lit cigar! According to the BBC, “Witnesses at a pub near the Welsh Assembly claim Mr. Thomas was reprimanded by staff for having a lit cigar in his hand as he walked in.” A Conservative Party leader said that while having Thomas resign as minister was “regrettable,” “There can be no exceptions to the rules.” Thomas remains a member of the Assembly, but actually expected to lose his ministerial position after his gaffes had embarrassed the coalition government. Proposed Baltimore ban on single-cigar sales draws 15 comments The newest attack on cigars is a proposed ban on sales of single cigars at non-cigar shop locations in Baltimore in an attempt to keep underage smokers from purchasing inexpensive smokes such as John Middleton’s Black and Mild brand. The comment period on the regulation has closed with 15 comments received (viewable at BaltimoreHealth.org), mostly from the usual suspects. The After-School Institute, American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, Baltimore American Indian Center, Baltimore Medical System, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Maryland Association of County Health Officers, Park West Health System and the University of Maryland School of Law all supported the proposal. 7-Eleven, Inc., Altria Client Services (on behalf of Black & Mild manufacturer John Middleton, Inc.), Cigar Association of America and Maryland Association of Tobacco and Candy Distributors were against it. One hand-written letter from a child, generally against smoking but not specific to the issue, was also received. The Altria Client Services comment included a 21-page legal brief, complete with citations, as to why the proposed regulation was inappropriate as well as illegal because this area of regulation belongs to the State of Maryland, which has taken up and failed to adopt near-identical statutes. The Cigar Association of America letter notes that “the Proposed Regulation is not likely to achieve its stated purpose, but will instead deprive adult consumers of a legal product, and local businesses of revenue generated by the sales of these products.” The C.A.A. letter and brief also sums up the likely outcome of the current regulatory effort: “To be sure, the adoption of the Proposed Regulation would likely do little more than ensure both expensive litigation and substantial confusion and disruption in the Baltimore retail tobacco market.” That’s where we are headed, because although the C.A.A. letter did not mention it, the other likely outcome of the proposal is to score political points for Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon and City Health Department Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein. |
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Did you know?
“"If the birth of a genius resembles that of an idiot, the end of a Havana Corona resembles that of a 5-cent cigar" - Sacha Guitry.
