Kansas Anti-Tobacco Legislation May Be the Next Dumb & Dumber

It may sound like the theme of a Jim Carrey comedy - First, we ban smoking, then we raise tobacco taxes - but members of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association in Kansas aren’t finding this ironic potential scenario very funny.

Last month, the Kansas legislature passed and Gov. Mark Parkinson signed a comprehensive ban against smoking in restaurants, bars and most workplaces. Now, with the governor’s support, some state lawmakers are poised to increase taxes on most tobacco products from 10 percent to 40 percent. The Senate Committee on Assessment and Taxation will hear public testimony for SB516 on Wednesday, March 10. Several IPCPR members plan to testify against the bill.

"It would be funny if it weren’t so serious. Two wrongs don’t make a right," said Chris McCalla, legislative director of the IPCPR.

"Legislated smoking bans violate the personal rights of everyone - smokers and non-smokers, alike - and everyone knows that increased taxes on tobacco products result in lower tax revenues because they encourage illegal sales of bootlegged tobacco products. People also cross borders and use the Internet to purchase their tobacco products which eliminates all tobacco taxes from the state’s coffers," said McCalla.

"All legislated smoking bans should be abolished, and a tobacco tax increase is wrong for the times and wrong for Kansas," said McCalla. His organization is a not-for-profit group of more than 2,000 cigar store owners and manufacturers and distributors of premium cigars and pipe tobacco.

McCalla said most IPCPR members are owners of small, mom-and-pop operations that pay taxes and employ local people. Legislated smoking bans and higher tobacco taxes, he said, result in lower sales of premium cigars, pipe tobacco and other tobacco products which, in turn, reduce tax revenues for the state and, more importantly, result in lost jobs and failed businesses.

"The last thing Kansas needs is lower tax revenues, lost jobs and closed businesses," McCalla said.

Columbia Study on Cigar & Pipe Smoking Corrupt Misuse of Junk Science

Conclusions made by a new study of cigar and pipe smoking by researchers at the Columbia University Medical Center are not supported by the study’s findings, says the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association, a not-for-profit group of premium cigar retailers and manufacturers.

The study, published last month in the Annals of Internal Medicine, was funded primarily by grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institutes of Health. The study concludes that "physicians should… counsel cessation of pipe and cigar smoking…."

"Nothing in the study justifies this erroneous conclusion. It is prejudicial and preconceived, thereby justifying the labeling of the survey as being a corrupt misuse of junk science," said Chris McCalla, legislative director of the IPCPR which is comprised largely of some 2,000 neighborhood mom-and-pop retail stores and family-owned manufacturers of premium cigars, pipes, tobacco and related accouterments.

McCalla cited several features of the study that he said support his group’s position:

* Of 3,528 participants in the study, only 58 had ever smoked cigars or pipes and not cigarettes, and only 428 had smoked pipes or cigars along with cigarettes.

* Only 47 of the subjects were current cigar smokers, of which only 16 were current cigar smokers who had never smoked cigarettes.

* Of the cigar smokers, 95 percent were male, but only 34 percent of non-smokers were men.

* There was no effort in the study to determine the type of cigar smoked - machine-made or premium, hand-made cigars.

* The study showed no clinical effect on lung function in cigar smokers.

* There were no differences in airflow obstruction between cigar smokers and non-smokers.

* Cotinine levels (a form of nicotine) were similar in cigar smokers and non-smokers.

"The study found no clinical differences between cigar smokers and non-smokers and to draw conclusions to the contrary is to participate in a conspiracy of public disinformation and deception," McCalla said.

http://www.annals.org/content/152/4/201.abstract?aimhp

Arango Cigar Co. Named Exclusive U.S. Distributor for Woodmere Pipe Furniture

Arango Cigar Co. is now the exclusive U.S. distributor for the complete line of Woodmere pipe furniture and cigar humidors.

Arango’s president, Michael Gold, announced the appointment, saying, "These hand-crafted Woodmere products span a broad spectrum of smoking accessories, making it convenient for pipe and cigar lovers to find just what they’re looking for … high quality at reasonable prices."

Woodmere produces an extensive array of furniture in teakwood and walnut. Pipe racks for desk or wall mounting come in sizes holding one to 36 pipes. For armchair smoking convenience, Woodmere combines them with crystal glass or polished brass ashtrays and tobacco jars, all mounted on the hardwood bases.

Gold states, "We are pleased to have partnered with a producer of distinctive smoking products, especially considering their surprisingly affordable prices. Their performance and quality, at a reasonable cost, offer true value." All products are now available from Arango Cigar Co.’s retail tobacconists.

Woodmere also produces humidors, from 10-cigar desk/travel models to 200-cigar prestige cases.

Devil With a Blue Dress On Smoking a Pipe

Tanya is a "Black-Haired Beauty with Big Dark Eyes" indulging in the succulent sweet taste of her pipe tobacco.

Devil With a Blue Dress On Smoking a Pipe - CLICK HERE FOR FULL GALLERY

Stop the Lies Behind the Smoking Bans

By: Michael J. McFadden
Author of "Dissecting Antismokers’ Brains"
Mid-Atlantic Regional Director of the CitizensFreedomAlliance.org

Smokers often find themselves in the uncomfortable position of defending their chosen practice against accusations by family, friends, or even complete strangers that they are harming people around them. That accusation has been the basis for smoking bans extending far beyond reason and is usually backed up by vague waves at "mountains of studies," claims that "all the experts agree," assurances that bans will be "cost-free" and "won’t hurt employment," and the repetition of empty but powerful sound bites learned from MTV and professional press-releases.

The freely downloadable and printable booklet offered below, the Stiletto, exposes "The Lies Behind Smoking Bans" and is designed specifically to counter claims made to back up the bans that have not only taken over our workplaces and recreational gatherings but are now reaching even into our private living spaces and personal off-the-job lives. It is designed to be quickly and easily read in print-out form in dimly lit bars or on restaurant counters and packs strong information and analysis into its 20 pages. It can be bound in the clear plastic student-term-paper type report covers cheaply available from Staples or school-supply shelves anywhere or it can be simply corner-stapled. Its argument is quite clearly one-sided, but its facts are accurate and their presentation is honest.

Anyone who would like a customized copy for a particular campaign (say within a specific state, university, or job setting) is welcome to contact the author for an editable .doc file format or assistance in such customization. Antismoking advocates have all the money to push their bans (The AMA’s 2001 report revealed that "Tobacco Control" received over $880 million dollars just in that year alone.) but the facts, and the truth, are on our side if we can get them out to public view. Download the Stiletto, print it out, bind it, and share it with others.

Next time you’re confronting an Antismoker, don’t argue with them: hand them a Stiletto and simply ask them to find anything at all in it that they can point to as incorrect or misleading. They won’t be able to.

Keep on fighting!

Download PDF

Get the Book Dissecting Anit-Smokers Brains

Two Luxury Tobacco Giants Talk Merger

If you smoke Stanwell Pipes, or Erinmore, Clan, W.Ø. Larsen or CAO pipe tobacco, you may not know that they all come from the same parent company, Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S.

STG has signed a letter of intent with Swedish Match to form a worldwide company with focus on cigars and pipe tobacco.

In addition to many of the top cigar brands, Swedish Match also makes Borkum Riff and Half&Half pipe tobaccos.

• Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) – formerly named Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni - will contribute all its tobacco business (cigars, pipe tobacco and fine cut tobacco)
• Swedish Match (SM) will contribute all its cigar business (with the exception of US mass market cigars), as well as its pipe tobacco and accessories business
• Completion of the transaction is subject to due diligence by both parties, final transaction agreements, bondholder approval, and regulatory review and approval

In accordance with its strategic vision to become a world leader in cigars and a leading player in smoking tobacco, STG has signed a letter of intent with SM to form a company combining the tobacco business of STG with the cigars businesses of SM (with the exception of SM’s US mass market cigar business). The company will also include the pipe tobacco and accessories business of SM, as well as distribution of lighters and matches in relevant markets.

The combined entity will have an annual turnover of just under MEUR 700 and a combined volume of more than 2.5 billion cigars and 1,650 tons of pipe tobacco, placing it firmly as one of the largest cigar companies in the world and as world leader in pipe tobacco. The company will have leading positions in the markets for premium cigars in the US and for cigars in Europe, and hold strong positions in a number of other markets. Its leading cigar brands will include brands such as Café Crème, Henri Wintermans, Colts and Mercator, among others, from STG, with SM contributing brands such as Macanudo, Partagas (US), Punch (US) and La Paz. Its leading pipe tobacco brands will include Erinmore, Clan and W.Ø. Larsen from STG and Borkum Riff and Half&Half from SM.

STG will hold 51% of the shares in the new company, with the remaining 49% of the shares being held by SM. On the basis of the preliminary valuations, which are subject to due diligence by both parties, STG will compensate SM by approximately MEUR 40 to account for the planned shareholding and the relative differences in enterprise values on a debt and cash free basis. Anders Colding Friis, CEO of STG, will become CEO of the new company.

SM produces and sells market-leading brands in smoke-free tobacco products, cigars, lighters and matches. SM’s global operations generated sales of MSEK 14,139 for the twelve months period ending September 30, 2009. It has production units in 10 countries and the SM share is listed on the NASDAQ OMX in Stockholm.

"The Letter of Intent marks the intention of both parties to form a value enhancing business combination within the cigar and smoking tobacco industry. Such a business combination would be complementary, create synergies and result in an overall stronger company," says Anders Colding Friis, CEO of Scandinavian Tobacco Group.

Completion of the transaction is subject to due diligence by both parties, final transaction agreements, as well as bondholder and regulatory approvals. Signing is expected during the first half of 2010 and completion as soon as possible thereafter. Please note that there can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed.

Scandinavian Tobacco Group produces and sells cigars, pipe tobacco and fine cut tobacco in more than 115 countries around the world. The group has around 3,400 employees and is headquartered in Denmark. The products are sold via sales subsidiaries in Europe, Canada and the US and a network of distributors. Production facilities are located in Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua. Key cigar brands are Café Crème, Henri Wintermans, Colts and Mercator. The most important pipe tobacco brands are Erinmore, Clan, W.Ø. Larsen and Stanwell. Key fine cut brands are Escort, Tiedemanns and Crossroad.

2010 Pipe & Tobacco Shows

We just updated the list of Pipe Shows for this year.

There are shows in St. Louis, New York, Raleigh, Chicago, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Columbus, Richmond, and Las Vegas.

http://pipesmagazine.com/pipe-events/

North Carolina Ironically Increases Taxes on Tobacco, One of It’s Biggest Crops

One way or another, there may well be another tobacco tax increase among nearly $800 million worth of across-the-board tax increases in North Carolina. That’s what is proposed for the fiscal year beginning July 1 unless an irate electorate makes itself heard to the state’s legislators, according to the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association.

Proposed tax increases include raising the state sales tax to seven percent, hiking income tax rates for high wage earners, new liquor tax increases and a tobacco tax increase to $.50 per pack of cigarettes and 13 percent on other tobacco products, including premium cigars and pipe tobacco. If Governor Beverly Perdue has her way, there would be even higher taxes on other tobacco products of up to 28 percent and an increase of $1 per pack in the cigarette tax.

"Times are tough all over. Revenues down? Cut spending. That’s what families do. And that’s what governments should do. That’s why now is the time to tell your state senators and representatives that you are against any newtaxes because they will only hurt our chances of economic recovery," said Chris McCalla, legislative director of the IPCPR.

The IPCPR represents more than 2,000 retailers and manufacturers of premium cigars. McCalla explained that these retailers and manufacturers represent, for the most part, small family businesses and not what is usually referred to as ‘big tobacco.’ There are nearly three dozen IPCPR members in North Carolina who employ hundreds of people whose jobs would be at stake if, as anticipated, an additional tobacco tax increase would lead to a decrease in sales, according to McCalla.

"If you use tobacco in any form or derive any of your income from tobacco in any way, you will likely be negatively affected by the proposed new taxes, making it all the more difficult to participate in any economic recovery," said McCalla.

A House-Senate conference committee meets this week to create a compromise version of the state budget that currently includes the tax increases to help cover what the Democratic leadership claimed to be a $4.6 billion shortfall.

"The budget has become a political football which we are not interested in playing with. And neither, we believe, are the voters in this state. All we want is an effective government that doesn’t automatically reach for the tax increase button when revenues fall short," McCalla said.

Don’t Tax Twinkies or Tobacco in Louisiana

As if a 2,700 percent federal tax increase on some tobacco products wasn’t enough, Louisiana lawmakers are trying to squeeze another 50 percent in state tax revenues out of Louisiana cigar smokers plus $.50 per pack of cigarettes and similar increases on other tobacco products.

"It’s as unfair and unjust as excessively taxing alcoholic beverages, snack foods, and automobiles because they make you drunk, fat or have accidents. Just because obesity is the nation’s leading cause of health problems, nobody should be taxing Twinkies and no one should be taxing tobacco, especially cigars and pipe tobacco, in order to manage how we live," according to Chris McCalla, legislative director of the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association, whose 5,000 members and guests will be meeting in convention in New Orleans in August.

Legislation proposed by New Orleans’ Rep. Karen Carter Peterson barely squeaked out of committee this week by an 8-7 vote after twice being defeated and will be up for discussion on the House floor next week.

House Bill 889 would further tax Peterson’s constituents and others throughout the state by increasing the state tax on cigarettes by $.50 per pack and on hand-made cigars from the current 20 percent of cost to a proposed 30 percent - a 50 percent increase. The proposed pipe tobacco tax increase would go from the current 33 percent to 49.5 percent with similar increases for other tobacco products . Cigars and pipe tobacco represent a small percent of the tobacco market but they are the primary source of income and jobs for the nearly three dozen Louisiana tobacconists and their employees.

"Current tobacco taxes raised less than $400,000 for the state last year and many Louisiana tobacconists’ sales are already off by double-digits due to the federal tobacco tax increase that went into effect April 1, 2009," said Bob Winston, owner of the Tinder Box in Metairie, LA. "Tobacco is an unstable, eroding tax base which higher taxes will only result in closing businesses like ours, job losses and further tax deficits."

Winston and fellow tobacconists Rene Gerard, owner of Piper’s Haven in Lafayette and Sarah McCauley, co-owner of Bayou Tobacco, Inc. in Baton Rouge, are among several state tobacconists who appeared at House committee meetings in opposition to the Bill. They are all members of the IPCPR.

"Higher taxes on cigars and pipe tobacco will only drive whatever business is left into the hands of Internet, out-of-state and mail order merchants who do not pay taxes to Louisiana and do not employ Louisiana’s citizens. They do not have the same stake in our communities that we do with our family-owned businesses and neighborhood employees," said McCauley.

Taxing Tobacco Seems to Fashionable in California

California legislators are grasping at tax straws that don’t exist as they seek to raise billions of dollars that don’t exist for a balanced state budget that doesn’t exist, according to the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association.

Two legislators - Democrat Assemblyman Tom Torlakson of Contra Costa County and Democrat State Senator Alex Padilla of Los Angeles - have introduced AB89 and SB600, respectively. The bills propose to increase tobacco taxes to as much as $2.10 per pack of cigarettes on top of the current $.87 per pack state tax and recently increased federal taxes of $1.00 per pack plus correspondingly stiff increases on other tobacco products like cigars and pipe tobacco.

"It’s easy to call these ‘tobacco taxes’, but the truth is they are discriminatory taxes that target some 15 percent of California adults who enjoy tobacco in one form or another , whether they smoke cigarettes or savor hand-made cigars" said Chris McCalla, legislative director of IPCPR.

"Real people pay these taxes… real people at all economic levels who vote and who have had enough overspending by government. They are customers of our more than 200 members throughout the state of California who are smoke shop owners and manufacturers or distributors of premium cigars and other tobacco products. They are, for the most part, small, family-owned businesses that employ thousands of their neighbors. As taxes go up and sales go down, their businesses are as threatened as the jobs of their employees and the sales, income and other taxes collected by the local, state and federal governments," McCalla said.

Proponents of increased tobacco taxes claim they will make it more difficult for under-aged individuals to purchase cigarettes.

"Higher taxes do not make it more difficult for teen-agers to purchase tobacco … they only make it more expensive for them and everyone else. If we want to keep kids from smoking - and we agree that everyone should support that goal - we should be enforcing the laws that are already on the books as do all members of the IPCPR," said McCalla.

McCalla disagreed with an editorial in a California newspaper (Wednesday, June 17, Los Angeles Times) that said increasing state tobacco taxes would be a "fair and constructive" way to find "balance" for the budget.

"The bills’ sponsors are estimating that these new, taxes on 15 percent of Californians might generate up to $2 billion as the state seeks to fill its $24 billion deficit. That is anything but fair, constructive or balanced," McCalla said.