Smoking bans are a smoker’s worst nightmare. Imagine having the freedom to smoke (cigarette or cigar it does not really matter) whenever and wherever you feel like it? The trend these days, however, is for cities to adopt smoking bans. On one hand, it does make sense. After all, containing smoking activities will do a world of good for the environment. More so, the people who do not smoke will not be bothered by inconsiderate smokers (yes, there are those kinds of people).

In Pennsylvania, however, the pending smoking ban that is to be introduced by Gov. Rendell, is causing quite a stir. The bill is not yet a law but will very soon be, judging by the enthusiastic response it got from the State Senate. This is particularly interesting because the state has long been considered to be the cigar capital of United States.

So what and who are affected by the impending smoking ban? Practically ALL public places. These include hospitals, schools, taxis, bus stops, buses, bus stations, and even sports facilities! Restaurants are also included in the ban. There are some exemptions though. These include bars and cafes which do not derive more than 20% of their income from food. Hotels can have a maximum of 25% of their rooms designated as smoking rooms.

So it’s not really that bad, I suppose. PA smokers will just have to adjust much like the people in other cities of world have when they decided to place a smoking ban. It is not that hard, trust me.

Originally posted on June 11, 2008 @ 6:06 pm

I came across this article on the Boston Globe today:

Cigarette sales have been declining at a steady clip in recent years, but cheaper forms of tobacco have become more popular at the same time.In a research letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Gregory N. Connolly and Hillel R. Alpert of the Harvard School of Public Health write that the 3.7 billion pack, or 18 percent, drop in cigarette sales from 2000 to 2007 may have been offset by an uptick in sales of small cigars, roll-your-own tobacco, and moist snuff equivalent to about 30 percent of the decrease in cigarette sales. Sales of large cigars also grew 37 percent.

Eileen M. Sullivan, director of policy and planning at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Tobacco Control Program, said state health experts have been concerned about sales of little cigars for less money than cigarettes.

“These products are just as dangerous as cigarettes,” she said.

I guess we’ve known this for quite sometime, haven’t we? Well, at least those people who have been paying attention. We all know how high the prices of cigarettes have gone up in the past years. Tobacco, on the other hand has not really suffered all that much. My worry is that when some sectors in the government find themselves idle without anything to do, they just might find ways to make tobacco just as expensive as cigarettes. If that happens, what next?

Oh another note – the excerpt above ended with something about cigars being just as dangerous as cigarettes. Maybe so, if you inhale the smoke. Now how many people do you know inhale their cigar smoke?

Photo courtesy of Amayu

Originally posted on June 17, 2008 @ 6:34 pm