Indiana Smoking Ban Unnecessary Jobs-Killer
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Kevin Godbee - Nov 29, 2011
- 2 min read
Indianapolis, Indiana – The International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association says the Indiana prohibitionists who want to pass a more stringent statewide smoking ban are blind to the jobs- and business-killing repercussions such a ban would have throughout the state.
"Our position hasn’t changed: business owners have the right to decide the smoking policies of their own establishments. When the government tells them what to do, it is going too far. Legislated smoking bans are a product of the ‘Nanny State’ and put businesses at risk, jobs in jeopardy, hurt local economies, and leave consumers with no choices," said Bill Spann, CEO of the IPCPR.
Spann said he was speaking on behalf of the more than 2,000 tobacconists who are members of the IPCPR and own neighborhood cigar stores, as well as their customers and the 85,000 Americans employed by the manufacturers, distributors and retailers of premium tobacco products.
"Legislated smoking bans run contrary to the individual rights upon which the United States was built, Spann said. "Besides that, jobs and businesses are at stake with such draconian smoking bans."
Spann cited a Federal Reserve Bank report that used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to officially note the negative impact on businesses and jobs that such bans can have on local and statewide economies. He also referred to Indiana’s nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency, which showed that banning smoking in casinos and horse racing establishments could cost the state about $190 million annually.
"If a smoking ban in gambling establishments could negatively impact those businesses, it could easily hurt other adult-oriented businesses, like bars. And since when should veterans and other members of fraternal clubs be denied their enjoyment of premium tobacco products like hand-made cigars and pipe tobaccos?" he asked.
"Why any legislature would let itself become preoccupied with such non-productive measures, is beyond reason. Instead, legislators should be finding ways to create more jobs and raise more tax revenues by boosting Indiana’s economy in a more business-friendly environment, instead of tearing it down," Spann said.
"Finally, when prohibitionists say smoking bans are necessary to limit exposure to secondhand smoke, it should be known that the American Cancer Society, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Washington and others have shown that the federal government’s permissible exposure limits are up to 25,000 times higher than levels for components of secondhand smoke normally found in bars and restaurants that permit smoking.
"For all these reasons, we urge Indiana residents to insist that their state legislators devote their time and energies to creating new jobs and a better business environment to sustain them instead of wasting it on unnecessary jobs-killing legislative proposals," Spann said.
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 505! We have two guests tonight. In our featured segment we have Fred Hanna returning. Fred is a well-known pipe collector, author, and speaker at pipe shows. He has a PhD. in psychology and teaches the same at the Chicago Campus at Adler University. He is also author of the book, “The Perfect Smoke”. This is the seventh in a recurring series with a long form discussion of pipe and tobacco questions sent in by our listeners. In the opening “Pipe Parts” segment, our guest is Ash from The Chap’s Guide YouTube Channel. This will also be a recurring series with practical tips on things like dressing sharply, hats, watches, journaling and many other areas that tend to cross over with pipe enthusiast’s interests. Tonight, we will chat about tailoring. Sit back, relax with your pipe, and enjoy The Pipes Magazine Radio Show!
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The late Bill Unger, long-time secretary/treasurer of the North American Society of Pipe Collectors and editor of the Pipe Collector newsletter, was often quoted as saying, “If you have one pipe, you’re a pipe smoker. If you have two pipes, you’re a collector.” The question of what makes an aggregate of pipes an actual “collection” is something that I’ve often struggled with, and every attempt to pin things down has found me in the weeds. Collectors of most objets d’art tend to have some sort of focus, and to take the stance that my focus is on “pipes” has always felt a bit like a cheap way out. I have friends who collect a certain shape, or a certain maker’s work, or pipes from a specific country or era. One specializes in straight grain, always seeking the next incremental step towards perfection, while never accumulating too many pieces. I, on the other hand, have never been a specialist, but the term generalist doesn’t adequately describe my proclivity either. 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I gathered quite a few of them, ranging in size from small to quite large, and thought I’d found my niche. Of course, this wouldn’t last forever, and soon other shapes caught my attention. The prince, long and elegant, with its wider bowl and gentle curve seemed like maybe it was the perfect shape. Its slender shank and long stem result in a light pipe that keeps the smoke out of your eyes. I’ve also often posited that there is no better “pointing pipe” than the prince. Then came the lovats. Their compact shape, short saddle mouthpieces and capacious bowls seemed to be my ideal. And, speaking of compact shapes, the little “brucianaso,” exemplified by the Castello #10, was so appealing, I found myself chasing them at a time when they were exceedingly rare. The billiard, at one time, seemed sort of boring to me, but it is such a classic shape, and when cut really nicely, has its own beauty and charm. Now, I have quite a few of them. 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These makers took familiar forms and rendered them with sleeker lines, softer curves, and a more minimalist approach. Some were additionally inspired by nature, bringing new words to the vocabulary of pipe shapes. I was intrigued, and as more of these shapes found their way into my group, they scribbled another page of an increasingly disorganized book. They didn’t displace my beloved classics, but expanded my appreciation in yet another direction. Oh, and those crazy freehands? What can I say; some of those shapes are so wildly conceived, how could I ignore them? The butterfly finds flowers wherever they are. Mostly, I’ve just accepted, or ignored my rather mercurial tastes, but once in a while, something happens to bring my “strategy” into question. The other day, I was enticed by a beautiful piece by American maker Ryan Alden. I’ve known Ryan for years, and have bought a couple of his pieces, but this pipe lived outside of his norm, and mine. I had to have it. 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I was moonstruck with thunderbolt love and pulled out my thin wallet. I threw in a pouch of Virginia tobacco to break in my new beauty. “You won’t be disappointed,” he called out after me. That Cavicchi hit me like a dancing string of lightning. It was a shimmering slim magnificence, purity of line and spirit. I became fascinated and wanted to know everything I could about the actual Mister Claudio Cavicchi. Lo, he was but a humble Italian farmer. But upon studying nature in his daily life, and experiencing renewal and growth from the Earth, Claudio one day decided he could craft pipes as well as crops. He became an artisanal pipe maker, a craftsman of world-renown, a master of design. Dear reader, there is a world of science and physics involved in his pipe creations and immaculate stains that just make the pipe’s grain glow. His meticulousness gave rise to his unique grading system ranging from a single “C” to a quintuple of “Cs.” More “Cs” translates to higher grades of briar. 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This cellar-diving kick is really paying off, considering the time and effort that went into stocking the coffers with tobacco meant to be enjoyed with some age on its side. This month’s candidate for review is a tin of JackKnife Plug dated 6th April 2011, among the first production runs of this blend from the New World Collection. Having done a release review for it and its fraternal twin JackKnife Ready Rubbed back in 2012, and seeing as this tin is just reaching its eleventeenth birthday, it seems a fitting time to revisit what Mr. Pease hath wrought. Opening the tin with no small amount of anticipation, one can really appreciate the way patience can pay off with tobacco. The aromatics release with a whoosh of pressure, itself an immensely satisfying sound while peeling back the lid. The scents fill the air immediately, strong and sweet tones that flood the entire room: up front, the rich bitter sweetness of a Terry’s Dark Chocolate Orange, baker’s chocolate; developing over some time with nuances like rich mulched earth, brand new leather shoes, a phenolic tinge reminiscent of Dettol or pine tar, and an underlying meatiness of a lightly-charred steak. Over the course of a couple of weeks making my way through the tin, the aroma tempers down to a more familiar chocolate-covered cherry cordial with layers of parchment and a briney umami saltiness like soy or Worcestershire sauce. It’s tempting, with all this chocolaty aroma, to take a bite out of the brownie-like bar of tobacco, a feeling I’m surely not alone in contemplating. The presentation does however invite closer inspection of the tobacco, such a tangible thing when in bar form. This 11-year-old plug is only lightly dusted with the whitish ‘sugar crystals’ often found on aged Virginia blends, and peering into the layers from outermost to innermost there is a general uniformity of color and texture all the way through—again, and not to belabor the point, but the color is a rich, bitter dark chocolate-brown that perfectly mirrors the aromas. The composition of this blend is clearly no accident, no haphazard mashing together of leaf. Greg clearly set out with a goal in mind: exploring the breadth and depth of the character that could be created when working with the darling of the pipe tobacco world at the time, dark-fired Kentucky. Dark-fired enjoyed a bit of a heyday with the release of these GLP offerings, as well as a host of others such as MacBaren’s HH Old Dark Fired. Speaking on the composition of JK Plug versus Ready-Rubbed, he notes: The blend is identical, with one small exception. The plug is constructed with a core of brights, and the darker tobaccos surrounding it. This allows the brights, theoretically, to express themselves with more purity in the blend. They’re not under as great an influence from the fire-cured and red tobaccos. Doing this with the [Ready Rubbed] wouldn’t work well, because of the way the tobacco clumps, so the blocks are not stratified in this way. The same tobaccos in the same measures are just layered and pressed for the same length of time, then the blocks are sliced and tumbled. It’s the same technique used for the Old London mixtures. It was also clearly intended with aging in mind; again, in Greg’s own words: When I first designed the stuff, I had no idea what the future would bring. There was certainly no reason to think it would do anything but age wonderfully, but you never know. The plug form causes internal anaerobic fermentation, while the outer layers are still exposed to plenty of air. The other night, I opened an 8-month old tin of the final prototype. The aroma was intoxicating, and the smoke was HUGE. I think it’s safe to say it’s going to age really, really nicely. And quickly. I would have believed the tobacco in that tin to have been 5 years old already. With more than a decade under the hood waiting to prove or disprove this theory, the bar was sliced thin and thick, folded, rubbed, and stuffed into a variety of bowl geometries to tease out its flavors, and the results are resoundingly positive. The verdict? JackKnife Plug has the character and complexion of the heartiest of English blends, while being completely absent of Latakia or Oriental leaf. It ages like a peaty single-malt of the finest provenance, developing layers and depth that belie the relative simplicity of its ingredients. I quickly gravitated toward a wider, open-chambered pipe for tasting, one that I would generally use for English blends, as it naturally accommodated the finer nuances of the smoke—and the smoke is certainly huge. The top of the bowl starts with a piccolo-like overture from the Virginia-Perique nexus, with a peppery nose prominently laying the groundwork for what’s to come—think Shostakovich’s 6th, first movement (in fact, this piece is a good parallel overall; perhaps without quite as much of the bombast of later movements). The sweetness is surprisingly underplayed, however—the Perique quickly becomes a background spice, lending sour notes while falling in step with the harmony of the Virginia’s more leathery tones. The sharp edges are all well-rounded over here; far from being able to bite, this smoke develops a thick, steak-dinner mouthfeel almost immediately, one which lingers for a good while after the pipe is finished. By mid-bowl the full composition really comes together, with the darker smokiness of the Kentucky burley stepping center stage even while some of the sweetness sneaks back in. In fact, for beverage pairings I favor an extra-sweet iced tea or soft drink as personal preference. The umami of mid-bowl builds and builds through to the heel, as the chocolaty and nutty tones segue into barbecue woods and steak char, with a touch of Worcestershire still interwoven from the Perique’s spice. Somewhat surprisingly for such a stout blend, the nicotine does not overwhelm—it’s a solid medium-plus, though, best enjoyed after a meal. While my preference with the plug […]
Yeah! What Spann Said!
I can’t believe some people actually think this is a GOOD idea.
I see a revolution coming. And I can’t freaking belive the tipping point is going to be over tobacco…
BOOOOO Indiana.
As I said elsewhere in this publication: the national economy has tanked; real estate has become worthless; Social Security and Medicare are on the brink of total collapse; gasoline is bobbing between $4 and $5 a gallon; we’re engaged in three wars; China has the U.S. by the financial short hairs; unscrupulous corporate pirates (think Bernie Madoff, et al.) have
managed to steal tens of billions of dollars; Lady Ga-ga can earn millions; unemployment is pandemic; diverse natural disasters have ravaged the country; and the threat of terrorism has public transportation in total disarray. Yet politicians busy themselves with legislation like this, which erodes both the local economy and individual freedoms.
One wonders why so much energy is being spent on the issue of smoking, whereas so many other issues with much more import are practically ignored. It certainly isn’t altruism, or motivation to extend lives, and surely not money which can and is drawn through taxation of the very process the politicians seek to end. Something is rotten in Denmark!
Freakin’ liberals…..
Live Free or Die!
As of Jan 2, 2012, a ban prohibiting smoking in all Boise bars and parks just went into effect. some of us went to the City Council in an effort to fight it, but to little avail- the council was uniformly anti-smoking in leaning and those attempting to fight the ban were not organized enough.
ORGANIZE! Here is what I sent to the city council:
To the City Council as per the anti-tobacco legislation,
Long before our Founding Fathers were known as Founding Fathers (even to themselves), they were using, growing and trading in tobacco, and Native Americans were using tobacco before Europeans arrived on this continent. I believe it was Mayor Bieter at the City Hall Hall meeting in October who pointed out that the right to smoke is not in the Constitution. He is right about that, but those of us in tune with the spirit of the Founding Fathers can cite that part of the Declaration of Independence which refers to ‘the pursuit of happiness’ and count that as something beyond mere rhetoric.
It would no more have occurred to these men to ban tobacco anymore than they would’ve considered banning coffee, tea, alcohol or guns. While their world was different from ours, and they could not have forseen the invention of the cigarette- a nicotine delivery system calculated over time for its addictive properties, the Council might take a broader view of all issues relating to tobacco. It might also recognize that just because studies on second-hand smoke have been compiled into books (one with the US Gov’t. stamp of approval), these studies are not necessarily the gospel truth. Their appearance in book form however does tend to create that idea.
Over nine years ago I quit cigarettes while working in a tobacco store where employees and customers smoked at will. The nature of addiction and specific toxicity differ greatly from person to person (this issue never seems to be addressed in anti-tobacco ‘literature’) depending on on the substance and the physical constitution of the individual, but before I quit cigarettes I’d smoked the better part of a pack a day for 20 years. I quit with the help of pipes and cigars, and while the claim might be made that I merely transferred my addiction, I hasten to add that not having the time to smoke during a day or even forgetting to smoke altogether does not seem to be part of the state of addiction.
As someone who enjoys finer tobaccos in moderation I know that there are great distinctions between different forms of tobacco. This is lost on many who simplistically equate any tobacco use with cancer and addiction. Just as there are connoisseurs of wine and beer, there are those for cigars and pipe tobacco, and magazines dealing with these topics have been around for at least 16 years or more and and are now joined by more websites than could be counted. You don’t see magazines or websites devoted to cigarette enjoyment, and there are good reasons for this. Pipe and cigar smokers will however be lumped in with the cigarette smokers- there aren’t proper studies to show that the smoke for these products is noticeably less toxic, and if there were it would not matter to those anti-smoke dogmatists who wave their hands just thinking about the slightest hint of tobacco but have no problem with camp fires or vehicle engine fumes. No one makes the claim that smoking is nutritious or good for you, yet wine and beer drinkers argue similar claims- even with known statistics concerning drunk-driving deaths, domestic abuse and a host of other alcohol-related health issues.
Cigarette smoking has been a dying trend for years. Laws are not needed to hasten its departure, and in the meantime cigarettes are only one more toxic yet legal product available in the marketplace. Zealous guarding of public health in this arena is certainly all about political whims and expedience. Please allow the the few smokers to frequent a tiny minority of bars who cater to them. (How it is constitutional for a business owner to be forced to ban consumption of legal products on his/her premises is completely beyond me). And please do not punish the old man or tobacco geek who likes his pipe or cigar while walking outdoors on the Greenbelt. You will not live appreciably longer in the total absence of tobacco smoke, especially as as it goes the way of the rotary telephone. A little tolerance and magnaminity is not a bad thing.
Thank you for reading,
S. V.
“You don’t see things as they are. You see things as you are.”
-The Talmud
FINALLY- check this out- auto fumes are being found to possibly cause autism, Pre-mature birth and Alzheimer’s. Think cities will try to limit toxics like auto fumes? Of course not, but using such an arguement might prevail in such future anti-tobacco fights. “You city city council members are merely re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic regarding public health if you think a ban on smoking is going to amount to a hill of beans!”
I have been at the capitol in Indianapolis for the last three weeks. The feeling here is that the state wide smoking ban will pass. Furthermore, Indianapolis is also seeking to pass a smoking ban in the city. So if the state wide ban fails or bars are exempt they can fall back onto the city ban. All being driven by the fact the super bowl will be held here in two weeks. The state wide smoking ban for the last 6 years has never made it out of committee.