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Kevin Godbee - Aug 30, 2011
- 2 min read
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – The International Premium Cigar & Retailers Association (IPCPR) is challenging what it calls Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels’ "unsubstantiated assertion" that a statewide smoking ban is gaining support.
Last session, a smoking ban failed to pass Indiana’s General Assembly. Nonetheless, news reports cite Daniels’ belief that a new bill could pass in the next session, prior to the end of his term.
"People are getting fed up with government telling them what they can and cannot do. Hoosiers are no different: they want choice, not Big Brother," said Chris McCalla, legislative director of the IPCPR.
"There are few things more anti-business, anti-employment, anti-consumer and anti-choice as legislated smoking bans," said McCalla. "We are all for business owners being able to decide the smoking policy for their establishments. But when the government tells its citizens what to do, it is going too far. Legislated smoking bans put businesses at risk, jobs in jeopardy, hurt local economies, and leave consumers with no choices."
McCalla cited a report from Indiana’s nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency which concluded that banning smoking in casinos and horse racing tracks alone could cost state revenue coffers about $190 million a year.
"If a smoking ban in gaming establishments could negatively impact an industry which generates huge tax revenues for the state, it should be obvious that it could also hurt many other businesses as well.
Furthermore, veterans, members of fraternal clubs as well as those Indiana constituents in nursing homes and other assisted living facilities should be allowed the same freedom of choice that other Hoosiers enjoy," he said.
Lost business means lost jobs and lost tax revenues, McCalla pointed out.
"Even the Federal Reserve Bank, using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, has officially noted the negative impact on businesses and jobs that such bans have on local and statewide economies," said McCalla.
McCalla explained that legislated smoking bans are not only unnecessary, they attack the personal rights of smokers and non-smokers, alike. It is the right of every business owner to declare the smoking policy of their business, he asserted.
"It is not up to government to make that decision," declared McCalla, "and customers can decide for themselves if they want to patronize a place that does or does not allow smoking on the premises," he added.
Previous Article from March 2011 –Indiana Smoking Ban Will Only Hurt Lagging State Economy
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 636. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Barry Kane. Barry started smoking a pipe in 1961 when he was 14-years old. Back then it seemed like everybody smoked, and you could buy pipes and tobacco just about anywhere. Barry is a true old-school pipe smoker, sticking to just one blend. See if you can guess which one before listening. At the top of the show Brian will give his take on Scandinavian Tobacco Group’s purchase of Mac Baren and Sutliff Tobacco and their announcement that they will be shut down.
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 635. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with James Ravenwood. James is the boutique tobacco blender of Ravenwood Blends. His blending started out as a fun hobby, and he now has professionally packaged commercially available products with some great tin art. Part of his interest in pipe smoking goes back to fond memories of a retired Navy Veteran that lived on his street while he was growing up that would sit in his driveway smoking a pipe all day. Later, in 2011 he began smoking pipes and soon after started experimenting with mixing different tobaccos. His other hobby, that he has been doing for 30 years, is photography. He takes wonderful photos of outdoor spaces, and still life pictures of pipes and tobacco. You can see them on his Instagram @thebriarfellowship. At the top of the show we’ll have an Ask the Pipemaker segment with renowned pipe artisan Jeff Gracik.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 634! Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Warren Ertle. Warren is an extremely accomplished musician with a PhD in music. He started early as a percussionist in sixth grade. Later his grandmother got him a cheap Casio keyboard which he taught himself to play. He started playing in blues bands in high school, and has been a pianist with jazz big bands for years. Even though he was already a professional musician, he took his first real piano lesson when he enrolled in college with his studies in classical music. He is of course a pipe smoker. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.
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A fact is not a truth until you love it—Shelby Foote. A parting thought: It is said that famed Southern author William Faulkner carried a packed pipe in a coat pocket wherever he went. That’s one effective way to deal with workday conflicts and confusion. A calm and objective judgment in our everyday human affairs, as the quantum man said.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 633. Our featured guest tonight is Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and the accompanying online store. We’ll have JD and Brian talking about what’s new at the store and in the business in general. At the top of the show, Brian will discuss tobacco growing, what happens to the leaf, and provide updated information on where tobacco is being gown today. Tobacco production originated in the United States and we were once the #1 producer. It’s quite different now.
…and the good news is, Chris McCalla and the IPCPR are on the job calling-out these morons; and PipesMagazine.com is staying on top of these issues in (it seems like) every locale.
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Thanks, PM.com 🙂
When Iowa passed their statewide smoking ban gaming establishments were brazenly exculded from the bill. The legislature knew not to offend the powerful casino lobby and force them to do something against their will.
Resturants, bars, and taverns didn’t get that choice.
The message Iowa lawmakers sent to the public was second hand smoke is dangerous, except while gambling.
They always try it on their way out of office because they know if they were running for re-election they would lose.
Clearly Mitch isn’t the smartest tool in the shed.
cortezattic said:
…and the good news is, Chris McCalla and the IPCPR are on the job calling-out these morons; and PipesMagazine.com is staying on top of these issues in (it seems like) every locale.
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Amen to that!