Council Bans Sale of Single Cigars

[User]

The Prince George's County Council adopted one of the nation's most sweeping restrictions on the sale of cigars yesterday, an effort to curb a growing trend among urban youths of using hollowed-out cigars to smoke marijuana.

The council voted 8 to 1 to ban the sale of single cigars, requiring stores to sell them in packages of at least five. The new law will also make it easier to charge someone possessing a cigar with a drug paraphernalia offense.

The action drew a threat of legal action by the Maryland Association of Tobacco and Candy Distributors, whose lobbyist said the council had overstepped its authority in regulating a legal tobacco product. A proposed state law to ban the sale of single cigars died this year.

The county measure's passage was applauded by local anti-drug activists and the county police and health departments. The law is aimed primarily at small cigars sold individually at convenience stores and gas stations. Such cigars are often marketed in youth-friendly flavors such as cherry, apple and lime and are sold for as little as 80 cents to $1.

Tobacco stores that specialize in cigar sales, and often sell high-end cigars for as much as $5 apiece or more, are excluded from the legislation's restrictions, as are other locations that are sometimes age-restricted, including golf courses, fraternal lodges, bars and restaurants.

Studies have shown that the cigars have become increasingly popular among young people in predominantly black communities and can be a gateway to a lifelong cigarette habit, said Kathleen Dachille, director of the Center for Tobacco Regulation at the University of Maryland School of Law. Dachille said many young people smoke cigars for the tobacco, but they can also be easily hollowed out and filled with marijuana.

She said requiring that cigars be sold in packs of five will raise their price enough to deter some young people, who will also balk at having to keep and store the packs.

"If we can prevent children in Prince George's County from initiating smoking with a very popular attraction, we may prevent a tobacco user from growing up," she said.

She said she thinks that Prince George's is the only jurisdiction in the nation to ban the sale of single cigars, but New York City and Rhode Island are considering similar measures. A similar law in Philadelphia was struck down by a court for other provisions. Baltimore is also considering new health regulations that would have the same effect, and a District law targets cigar products, such as wrappers, as drug paraphernalia.

Sylvia Quinton, who works with the Suitland-based Substance Abuse Treatment Education Prevention Network, said use of short fat cigars, often called blunts, to smoke marijuana has "become embedded in youth culture." Blunts make frequent cameos in rap music and movies.

She said the new law cannot stamp out the glorification of blunts, but raising the price might discourage some youths.

The law was opposed by tobacco distributors and the Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris. Last year, Altria bought the company that makes Black and Mild cigars, a popular brand for single sales, Dachille said. Bruce C. Bereano, a lobbyist for the distributors, said the intent of the law was "laudable." But, he said, the law will only create a cottage industry of people who buy cigars in packs of five and then sell them individually on the streets.

A spokesman for County Executive Jack B. Johnson ( D ) said he will sign the bill. Dachille and Quinton said they will again support a state law when the legislature meets in January.


News Hawk: User: http://www.420magazine.com/
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2008 The Washington Post Company
Contact: letters@washpost.com
Website: washingtonpost.com - nation, world, technology and Washington area news and headlines
Author: Rosalind S. Helderman

[Soniq420]

Let's think this through..

1) Cannabis consumers will pay $400 an ounce for the green, but won't pay an extra $5 for a 5-pack?
2) OK, let's just all get 5x as high
3) Maybe we should also outlaw matches
4) We could also stop people from drinking if we outlaw cans and bottles

Duh

[Dr. 215]

This is absolutely retarted, people are banning legal tobacco products... The politics take so many turns it makes my head spin.

And i always buy the swisher sweet 5 pack because i always want another blunt after the first...

[darkrail]

Originally Posted by User

The new law will also make it easier to charge someone possessing a cigar with a drug paraphernalia offense.

Wwww... wha?

How insane have we become?

Thank you, Joe Biden, for writing the original dumb-ass paraphernalia law that this new one is piggybacking on. How long until my lungs are deemed paraphernalia?

[User]

when a brother of mine was busted for a small amount they listed matches as paraphernalia. it didn't stick but the cops tried.

[wordsworm]

5 months later.

Frank says to his four friends, "Let's get a pack of 5 cigars and split them up, hollow them out, and smoke a blunt!"

[RooRman]

I like cigars. Macanudos fresh from the humidor are my favorite.

I'll be damned if they try and stop me from buying a single Fuente Opus X these days. Those cigars are about $25 a piece.

[Dr. 215]

nah the ban is only on the 1 dollar blunt, the article states how nice cigars will not be included in the ban (those sold at nice cigar stores) but the convenience/gas stations wont be able to carry them in that county...


And honestly, they say they are doing this to deter young people from becoming hooked on tobacco but anyone under 18 cant even buy them anyway! It just messes it up for all of us!
SO RETARDED lets just outlaw tobacco and legalize Cannabis already.

[wordsworm]

That's right - most laws of oppression target poor people. ie, you can't afford a home, drinking outside is illegal. Not allowed to drink at a park, in a car or in the public? No problem if you have a limo. Afraid the police will knock down your door? Usually not a problem if you're rich - though if you're black and rich maybe that doesn't work. Poor people are always the first target. If you're poor and someone steals your life savings, no big deal, even if the perpetrator is so stupid he/she gets caught - it's no big deal. If you're rich and you're robbed, you'll have all kinds of police after you and a nice big sentence at the end.

[Dr. 215]

yep, with education comes power, with power comes corruption, with corruption comes suppression. And who are the easiest people to suppress? The un-educated, the poor, and the ignorant.

[RooRman]

Originally Posted by Dr. 215

nah the ban is only on the 1 dollar blunt, the article states how nice cigars will not be included in the ban (those sold at nice cigar stores) but the convenience/gas stations wont be able to carry them in that county...
And honestly, they say they are doing this to deter young people from becoming hooked on tobacco but anyone under 18 cant even buy them anyway! It just messes it up for all of us!
SO RETARDED lets just outlaw tobacco and legalize Cannabis already.

Then what prevents a person from buying an expensive cigar and rolling a blunt? Nothing.

Ban tobacco though, no way. We need fewer restrictions on our rights not more.

[User]

we need no restrictions on our rights

[Dr. 215]

Originally Posted by RooRman

Then what prevents a person from buying an expensive cigar and rolling a blunt? Nothing.

Ban tobacco though, no way. We need fewer restrictions on our rights not more.

I agree we need fewer restrictions on our rights but tobacco is a terrible product that kills too many people each year. and IMO expensive cigars are usually too large for a regular sized blunt, the slim, single swisher sweets or a like cigar is the best to roll blunts. I dont wanna put a quarter oz in one blunt personally.

[GeorgiaSmoker]

now these kids are gonna have to start smoking crack b/c they cant afford a $5 sack and a $5 pack of cigars

[pvphoenix]

Wow... this is pretty humorous. This would piss me off if they did it here, I never buy those things but I remember one time I really really needed a cig and I only had change so I couldn't afford even a top sack so I had to buy one of those stupid cigars for like 69 cents. It tasted like shit but it did the trick.

"Blunts make frequent cameos in rap music and movies. She said the new law cannot stamp out the glorification of blunts, but raising the price might discourage some youths."

What the fuck is so bad about selling a blunt? Gas stations fuckin sell glass pipes now! And they're worried about cigars that actually were made with the intention to be tobacco smoke producers!

"Maryland Association of Tobacco and Candy Distributors" I get a kick out of that.