With Pipe and Pen Blog » Pipe and Tobacco News
By Bob Tate
Hold onto your pipes people, here it is.
On January 13, 2010, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) and co-sponsor Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) introduced bill H.R. 4439 to congress to raise the federal pipe tobacco tax from $2.8311US per pound to $24.78US per pound and “To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose the same rate of tax on pipe tobacco as is imposed on roll-your-own tobacco.”
At the time of this article, this has not been reported by any news agency. This seems to be the way that all anti-tobacco legislation has been happening as of late. “Do not report on it until is has already passed” and I am sick of them sneaking their laws in and not letting the public know until after it is passed.
If this bill passes, the average increase to your favorite blends will be about:
$2.43US per 50gr
$2.74US per 2oz
$4.86US per 100gr
$10.98US per 8oz
$21.95US per 16oz
$24.15US per 500gr
These prices would be added onto the price you are currently paying for those amounts of pipe tobacco. So with the average price of 100gr tin McClelland Frog Morton being about $13.20US, the new price would be $18.06US! That is outrageous! Read the rest of this entry »
By Bob Tate
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PipesMagazine.com, in association with The Chesapeake Cigar Company, has started a new local pipe club in Maryland. The name of the pipe club is, The Thomas Point Pipe Club. As of this time, the club will be having monthly meetings on the third Tuesday of every month (except on Holidays) starting in January. The December meeting will be held the same day as the event. Read the rest of this entry »
By Bob Tate

PipesMagazine.com has just become aware by way of the Orlando Sentinel, that in Florida, Democratic Rep. Darryl Rouson has filed a bill to introduce a tax on tobacco pipes. He claims that he is targeting ‘other’ types of pipes that are used for smoking illegal substances, but we all know where this is going to lead. The proposed new tax (surtax) that will be introduced is a staggering 25%! That is 25% on top of all of the other sales taxes and use taxes that are already in place!
Mr. Rouson says, and I quote,
“We all know the head shops, gas stations, and novelty stores in Florida are selling drug paraphernalia under the charade of being “tobacco pipes,’” Rouson said in a press release for HB 187. “If these items are to be available to the citizens of Florida, then we should charge a surtax on these consumers who are obviously using the pipes to do drugs.”
But according to his proposed bill (there is an excerpt from the bill as well as a link to the bill at the end of the article) it says that it includes all pipes regardless of whether they are sold for legal purposes or in violation of the law. That is a nice piece of double talk and contradiction, wouldn’t you say? Read the rest of this entry »
By Bob Tate
Mac Baren Tobacco will be represented at The Chicago Pipe Show. In attendance will be Per Jensen, Frank Blews, Shawn Fleming, Kara Babinski, and Gene Thompson. They will be there talking to people and answering questions about Mac Baren tobaccos. Read the rest of this entry »
By Bob Tate

Samuel Gawith will be re-introducing a blend at the Chicago Pipe Show this year. The blend has been out of production for quite some time and is called Scotch Cut Mixture. Bob and Graham from Samuel Gawith Tobacco will be in attendance at the show. Read the rest of this entry »