Tobacco Users Must Unite!

By Bob Tate

This is not a new article, it is part of a previous article that I have written. I am revisiting it here because I think that it deserves a spot by itself without rehashing the tax article that it originally appeared in. I re-published this part of it with some small revisions.

I am doing this because I am saddened and disheartened by a lot of recent comments by a lot of pipe and cigar smokers. It seems that a lot of smokers still don’t get it that we are all in this together.
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Interview With Master Blender Russ Ouellette - Part 3

By Bob Tate

This is the conclusion to our Russ Ouellette (Blendtobac) interview. So far in our interview with Russ Ouellette, we have talked about how he got started blending pipe tobacco blends, Perique tobacco, some of the challenges that he faces obtaining certain tobacco components, how he created Larry’s Blend, and many other things. Here, we are picking up the interview where we left off in Part 2:

PipesMagazine (PM): We have heard from quite a few people in the industry and have seen for ourselves that a lot of younger people are starting to get into pipes. Have you noticed this as well and have you seen a resurgence in pipes and pipe smoking?

Russ: Yeah, we’ve had a number of guys under 30 [years of age] who have stopped in to visit or join our pipe club and we’re seeing more and more of it. Some of it is kind of a trendy thing; a group of local college students, or whatever, will decide that they want to get together and smoke pipes. And because, I think, we do a very good job at our retail store of helping the new pipe smoker get started and give them the information that they need to stay with it, they tend to gravitate towards our store and they start hanging out on a regular basis because we have a lounge.

They like to get together and they’ll sit there around the card table and smoke their pipes. Our customers are such a great bunch of people that the older lawyers, doctors, and business people don’t look down their nose at these 24 year old kids sitting there smoking pipes. It’s a very comfortable environment and we’re doing what we can for the people who’ve made the decision that they want to smoke a pipe and we’re going to make it as enjoyable as possible for them.  Read the rest of this entry »

Florida Representative Files Bill to Tax Tobacco Pipes!

By Bob Tate

PipesMagazine.com has just become aware, by way of the Orlando Sentinel, that Florida Democratic Rep. Darryl Rouson has filed a bill to introduce a tax on tobacco pipes in Florida. 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 »

Divided We Fall: The Self Segregation of Smokers

By Bob Tate

There is a world war going on right now. It is a war against tobacco. It sounds silly doesn’t it? Unfortunately it’s true. The anti tobacco supporters have waged war using one of the oldest strategies, Divide and Conquer. And it’s working to perfection. Tobacco users are allowing this to happen. Not only are they allowing it to happen, they are helping it and sometimes support it. Let me explain a little. Read the rest of this entry »