12-12-2008, 11:31 PM
They just aren't going to quit until these StupidFUCKINGassholes we keep putting in office wipe out an entire industry. Where do they think the tax loss is going to come from. Can you say underground? The entire world is following us also. We are going to wittness one of the stupidest taxbase losses in our history, one state and country at a time.
Amazing ban info. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_smoking_bans_in_the_United_States
Boston
NO MORE BOSTON CIGAR BARS
"NO MORE BOSTON CIGAR BARSPlus: tasting and grading the new Curivari Cigars group of blends
Los Angeles, December 12 â The Boston Health Commission unanimously passed new, anti-smoking regulations which will eventually mean the end of cigar bars in the city.
Despite receiving hundreds of messages against the regulations and especially against the closure of cigar bars â where minors are not allowed and where patrons understand full well the atmosphere will contain cigar smoke â the Commissionâs only reprieve was to change the sunset period for cigar (and hookah) bars from five years to 10. After that, any of the six cigar bars or five hookah bars still operating in the city may apply to the Commission for an extension of an additional ten years, which will be granted or denied based on the evidence of harm from secondhand smoke at that time.
Importantly, however, no new cigar bars may be opened; in fact, the new regulations state âThe operation of a smoking bar is prohibited in the City of Boston.â And for those six existing cigar bars, the exemption will not apply to any of the existing business if the permit is transferred from the current ownership, making these business essentially unsalable. Moreover, the exemption language requires them not to allow persons under 18 to enter plus a rather humiliating requirement that each establishment must post signs âwarning patrons of the dangers of environmental smoke in the manner and form specified by the Executive Director at all entrances and on all menus.â
The Commission also banned the sale of tobacco products from pharmacies and colleges in the city, prohibited the sale of âblunt wrapsâ completely and prohibited smoking in the outdoor areas of bars and restaurants.
Retail tobacco shops were completely exempted from these regulations and will end up being the only public venue for cigar smoking other than the six cigar bars. The new rules apply immediately, but enforcement is expected to begin in 60 days.
A strong effort against these regulations was made, especially by cigar smokers, including help from the newly-organized Cigar Rights of America organization. But the Public Health Commission did the absolute least it could to respond to the publicâs view. Harold Cox, a Commission member who is also an associate dean at the Boston University School of Public Health, told the Boston Globe, âCigarettes are bad, theyâre harmful to people, thereâs a need for us to change the social norms around cigarettes. Our responsibility as governmental officials is to protect people.â For Cox and the Commission, the differences between cigarettes and cigars seems to have escaped them.
Look for cigar smokers to escape Boston and find other, more accommodating municipalities nearby.
Cali
DALLAS SMOKING BAN EXPANDED
Boston smoking ban vote today; Festival del Habano schedule unveiled
Los Angeles, December 11 â After months of heated hearings, the Dallas City Council voted 10-5 to expand the cityâs smoking ban originally passed in 2003. The new rules, expected to go into affect on April 10, 2009, will end smoking in bars and billiard halls and within 15 feet of the public entrances to most buildings.
Essentially, all workplaces in Dallas are now non-smoking.
The new rules exempt tobacco shops and cigar bars, but even those exemptions were limited. The expanded ordinance, as written, allows smoking in tobacco shops but allows smoking only in existing cigar bars (as of December 10, 2008), closing the opportunity for the opening of new facilities in the future. Moreover, the exemption will vanish if an existing cigar bar âis expanded, relocated, or changes majority ownership,â meaning there will likely be no cigar bars in Dallas in 10-20 years. The cigar-bar definition was also revised by an amendment, which defined a âcigar barâ as a facility which receives a minimum of 15% of its gross revenues (on a quarterly basis) from the sales of tobacco products and related items used for the consumption of tobacco on-site.
The tobacco shop exemption is not limited to existing facilities, but is defined as an establishment which receives â90 percent or more of its gross revenue on a quarterly (three-month) basis from the sale of tobacco, tobacco products or smoking implements.â Smoking is allowed in tobacco shops, but it must keep âall windows and doors closed at all times except as reasonably necessary for the expeditious entering and exiting of the tobacco shopâ and âdoes not open into any other indoor or enclosed area in which smoking is prohibited under this section.â
The vote came after almost four hours of discussion. A total of 11 amendments were requested with only one passing (lowering the cigar bar revenue threshold from 20% to 15%) and then a 10-5 final vote. The estimated cost to enforce the measure is $271,000 annually.
Among the amendments that failed in a close vote was banning smoking in vehicles where a minor was present, signaling that this might come back for a future vote. However, there was no discussion about banning smoking outdoors, as has been discussed in Boston and Los Angeles for outdoor dining areas of restaurants.
A significant campaign against the smoking ban expansion was organized, notably by Jim Fox and his Up in Smoke stores in the Dallas area. The push-back against the ordinance during the hearings and Council discussions undoubtedly had an impact in narrowing the scope of the final language of the measure.
A companion measure on the agenda Wednesday was an ordinance to prohibit the sales of individual cigars or cigars in packages of less than five, except in the ordinary course of business at a tobacco shop or in a business establishment which is generally not accessible to minors. Aimed at curtailing the use of inexpensive, machine-made cigars as the shells for marijuana cigars, this item was tabled for future discussion in January.
Amazing ban info. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_smoking_bans_in_the_United_States
Boston
NO MORE BOSTON CIGAR BARS
"NO MORE BOSTON CIGAR BARSPlus: tasting and grading the new Curivari Cigars group of blends
Los Angeles, December 12 â The Boston Health Commission unanimously passed new, anti-smoking regulations which will eventually mean the end of cigar bars in the city.
Despite receiving hundreds of messages against the regulations and especially against the closure of cigar bars â where minors are not allowed and where patrons understand full well the atmosphere will contain cigar smoke â the Commissionâs only reprieve was to change the sunset period for cigar (and hookah) bars from five years to 10. After that, any of the six cigar bars or five hookah bars still operating in the city may apply to the Commission for an extension of an additional ten years, which will be granted or denied based on the evidence of harm from secondhand smoke at that time.
Importantly, however, no new cigar bars may be opened; in fact, the new regulations state âThe operation of a smoking bar is prohibited in the City of Boston.â And for those six existing cigar bars, the exemption will not apply to any of the existing business if the permit is transferred from the current ownership, making these business essentially unsalable. Moreover, the exemption language requires them not to allow persons under 18 to enter plus a rather humiliating requirement that each establishment must post signs âwarning patrons of the dangers of environmental smoke in the manner and form specified by the Executive Director at all entrances and on all menus.â
The Commission also banned the sale of tobacco products from pharmacies and colleges in the city, prohibited the sale of âblunt wrapsâ completely and prohibited smoking in the outdoor areas of bars and restaurants.
Retail tobacco shops were completely exempted from these regulations and will end up being the only public venue for cigar smoking other than the six cigar bars. The new rules apply immediately, but enforcement is expected to begin in 60 days.
A strong effort against these regulations was made, especially by cigar smokers, including help from the newly-organized Cigar Rights of America organization. But the Public Health Commission did the absolute least it could to respond to the publicâs view. Harold Cox, a Commission member who is also an associate dean at the Boston University School of Public Health, told the Boston Globe, âCigarettes are bad, theyâre harmful to people, thereâs a need for us to change the social norms around cigarettes. Our responsibility as governmental officials is to protect people.â For Cox and the Commission, the differences between cigarettes and cigars seems to have escaped them.
Look for cigar smokers to escape Boston and find other, more accommodating municipalities nearby.
Cali
DALLAS SMOKING BAN EXPANDED
Boston smoking ban vote today; Festival del Habano schedule unveiled
Los Angeles, December 11 â After months of heated hearings, the Dallas City Council voted 10-5 to expand the cityâs smoking ban originally passed in 2003. The new rules, expected to go into affect on April 10, 2009, will end smoking in bars and billiard halls and within 15 feet of the public entrances to most buildings.
Essentially, all workplaces in Dallas are now non-smoking.
The new rules exempt tobacco shops and cigar bars, but even those exemptions were limited. The expanded ordinance, as written, allows smoking in tobacco shops but allows smoking only in existing cigar bars (as of December 10, 2008), closing the opportunity for the opening of new facilities in the future. Moreover, the exemption will vanish if an existing cigar bar âis expanded, relocated, or changes majority ownership,â meaning there will likely be no cigar bars in Dallas in 10-20 years. The cigar-bar definition was also revised by an amendment, which defined a âcigar barâ as a facility which receives a minimum of 15% of its gross revenues (on a quarterly basis) from the sales of tobacco products and related items used for the consumption of tobacco on-site.
The tobacco shop exemption is not limited to existing facilities, but is defined as an establishment which receives â90 percent or more of its gross revenue on a quarterly (three-month) basis from the sale of tobacco, tobacco products or smoking implements.â Smoking is allowed in tobacco shops, but it must keep âall windows and doors closed at all times except as reasonably necessary for the expeditious entering and exiting of the tobacco shopâ and âdoes not open into any other indoor or enclosed area in which smoking is prohibited under this section.â
The vote came after almost four hours of discussion. A total of 11 amendments were requested with only one passing (lowering the cigar bar revenue threshold from 20% to 15%) and then a 10-5 final vote. The estimated cost to enforce the measure is $271,000 annually.
Among the amendments that failed in a close vote was banning smoking in vehicles where a minor was present, signaling that this might come back for a future vote. However, there was no discussion about banning smoking outdoors, as has been discussed in Boston and Los Angeles for outdoor dining areas of restaurants.
A significant campaign against the smoking ban expansion was organized, notably by Jim Fox and his Up in Smoke stores in the Dallas area. The push-back against the ordinance during the hearings and Council discussions undoubtedly had an impact in narrowing the scope of the final language of the measure.
A companion measure on the agenda Wednesday was an ordinance to prohibit the sales of individual cigars or cigars in packages of less than five, except in the ordinary course of business at a tobacco shop or in a business establishment which is generally not accessible to minors. Aimed at curtailing the use of inexpensive, machine-made cigars as the shells for marijuana cigars, this item was tabled for future discussion in January.
![[Image: obama-smoking.png]](http://bigheaddc.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/obama-smoking.png)