Cigars, Cigar Information and where to find Premium Cigars, Discounted Cigars and even Cheap Cigars - TOBACCO MONEY GATHERING DUST IN CALIFORNIA

TOBACCO MONEY GATHERING DUST IN CALIFORNIA

TOBACCO MONEY GATHERING DUST IN CALIFORNIA

Plus: Montecristo raising money to help Caribbean hurricane victims

Los Angeles, March 29 – A blistering article in last Sunday’s edition of the Los Angeles Daily News confirms the worst suspicions of California smokers, still smarting from an enormous tax increase championed by actor-director Rob Reiner that won by an eyelash in 1998.

Staff writer Troy Anderson reported on the expenditures of “First 5 California,” chaired by Reiner, which is responsible for distributing “Proposition 10" monies collected from tobacco companies. Thus far, Anderson reports, some $3.4 billion has been collected but only $1.3 billion has been spent, primarily to provide universal health coverage to children in 18 California counties.

But nearly 13% of that spending – $165 million! – has been for advertising and public-relations programs that have generated little, if any, interest in First 5 programs and no public profile for an agency which spent nearly as much on self-promotion as the widely-known state lottery.

William R. Faith, an associate professor (emeritus) of communications at the USC-Annenberg School of Communications told Anderson, “It seems to me this is an incredible amount of money for P.R. and advertising.

“I know government agencies should get the word out to people, but this extent? It boogles the mind. I can’t see where they could spend that much money and not have their programs on everyone’s tongue.”

Remember, professor, Reiner is from Hollywood, where money disappears and no one knows what happens to it.

Anderson wrote that complaints on the administrative expenses of the First 5 commissions have been made at both the state and county levels. State Assembly members from Oakland and Bakersfield have been working with Reiner to draft a bill to create more government oversight, no doubt at additional cost. A long-promised program to use the tobacco taxes for universal pre-schooling for four-year-olds in the state has still not materialized and is now projected to begin “within a decade” in Los Angeles County.

In the meantime, funding for Reiner & Co. has fallen as the rate of smoking in California has dropped slowly, but is still close to $600 a million a year. As Reiner considers a run for the California governorship against popular incumbent Arnold Schwarzenegger next year, he might consider how his waste of money compares against the Governorator’s battle with the Democrat-controlled legislature to cut State spending and balance the deep State deficit. If Reiner runs, his lack of achievement with more than $3 billion over seven years will be widely highlighted to a California public which is still much concerned about the state’s fiscal trauma.

Montecristo helping Hurricane victims
Altadis U.S.A. has announced a special promotion during July to help victims of the devastating hurricanes which hit the Caribbean late last year.

The “World of Montecristo Relief Organization” will collect $35 donations during July at participating retail smokeshops, listed on the Altadis U.S.A. website. In return, those who donate will receive a commemorative “World of Montecristo Relief Foundation” three-cigar sampler and be entered to win a host of prizes, from boxes of Montecristo to signed and numbered serigraphs by artist Michel Delacroix, valued at up to $2,500. The goal is to raise $1 million for the Foundation.

The program was started in 1998 to aid victims of hurricanes in and around the Altadis (then Consolidated Cigar) manufacturing areas in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. Over the past seven years, the Foundation has donated more then $2 million to help with relief efforts, rebuild homes and schools and provide educational scholarships to children.

Tattoo U:
MD Cigars of Yuma, Arizona has an unusual promotion drawn up for Saturday, April 16: the second annual Drew Estate Cigar and Tattoo Event!

Anyone who wants to get a free Drew Estate tattoo from local artists SkinPen will not only get inked up, but a free box of Drew Estate cigars to celebrate. Jonathan Drew, the creative force behind the Drew Estate line-up of brands, will be on hand and the event will be webcast on the MD Cigars website.

MD Cigars was the first to hold such an event and the heavier-than-expected turnout has led to Drew Estate tattoo events nationwide.

Drew has branched out from its initial offering of the heavily-scented Acid line – originally seen as a competitor to Lars Tetens – to a much-respected group of brands including Ambrosia, Industrial Press, La Vieja Habana, Natural and his newest line, Sauza Tres Generaciones, imbued with the flavor of the famous tequila, which is used under license.

Naturally, there will be Drew Estate cigar specials (the Industrial Press line is worth trying if you haven’t already), food, raffles and t-shirts, although it’s not clear whether those who receive a tattoo will be able to get a shirt. After all, wouldn’t that be censorship?
~ Rich Perelman

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