Friday, December 16 2011
(Cigar Rights of America)
Just as packages are being wrapped, trees decorated, and hopefully a lot of shopping at your community tobacconist, politicians at every level of government are chiming in with news of regulation, taxation and further encroachment into your ability to enjoy a great cigar.
You can always tell when we are getting closer to the legislative season of a New Year, as whispers of proposed legislation begin to appear. It's happening, though, from the local courthouse, up to the statehouse, along with mixed holiday news from our nation's capitol, on new co-sponsors for the effort to keep the U.S. Food & Drug Administration out of your
humidor, but then there is following story...
In the last 24 hours, five members of the United States Senate issued a joint letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, calling upon the agency to issue regulations of
cigars, and to specifically “issue regulations prohibiting the use of flavorings in cigars.”
U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut released the joint letter to FDA, further stating, “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, of the 13 million Americans who smoke cigars, an estimated 1.8 million are high school students and 475,000 are middle school students. This ban would help decrease the staggering rate of cigar use by children and young adults by removing these harmful products from the marketplace.”
Now we know this is nonsense, as is their comment, “...cigars have become more popular among adolescents.” Just walk into your local cigar shop, and one quickly notes the preposterous nature of this comment. Their letter places enhanced pressure to regulate cigars, by noting the agency's previous unmet deadlines for issuing regulations.
This is why YOU need to ACT by signing the CRA petition to your member of the House and Senate, and encourage your cigar enthusiast brethren to do so, as well. This December 15 letter highlights how serious this issue is, for every consumer, retail tobacconist and manufacturer of great cigars.
Read the entire letter here...
In other news...
H.R. 1639 Picks Up New Sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives!
The following members of the U.S. House of Representatives are now co-sponsors of H.R. 1639, as Cigar Nation rallies to implore Congress, “Tell FDA, Leave My Cigars, Alone!”
Special thanks to Representatives: John Carter of Texas; Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania; Steven Rothman of New Jersey; Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska; Joe Courtney of Connecticut; Sam Johnson of Texas; Charles Fleischmann of Tennessee; and Cory Gardner of Colorado.
They join the 135 Voices of Freedom in the United States Congress!
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