U.S. Senate Rejoins Fight to Protect Cigars from FDA Regulation

The United States Senate has officially rejoined the fight to protect cigars from FDA legislation, as the Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act received an official bill number today, S. 772.

The bill has already signed on six co-sponsors, including a bi-partisan effort from Florida as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) came together to be the bill’s initial sponsors. Also on board are Senator Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana), Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana), Senator Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania) and Senator David Vitter (R-Louisiana). Sen. Landrieu is also Chair of the Senate Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee.

S. 772 joins House Resolution 792 in seeking to exempt premium and traditional cigars from FDA regulation. Cigar Rights of America has suggested that should the Food & Drug Administration begin regulating premium cigars, the following changes could be implemented:

• Ban on walk-in humidors, self serve cigar displays, and mail-order cigar sales;
• Ban on all flavored cigars, that are enjoyed by legal-age adults;
• Deface ornate, decorative cigar boxes, often considered an art form with grotesque images;
• Ban on cigar events where free cigars (samples) could be available to legal-age adults;
• Limits on cigar marketing and advertising;
• Imposition of new ‘user fees’ [tax] on cigars, to finance regulations;
• Limits on special release and small-batch cigars, due to mandates that cigar blends be submitted to FDA for pre-approval before release;
• Limits on nicotine levels on cigars to near zero, severely impacting the flavor of cigars;
• Ban on marketing cigar merchandise.

CRA has set up an online petition for those wanting to contact their elected officials and ask that they support S. 772 and H.R. 792.

S. 772 picks up where S. 1461 from the 112th Congress left off, as the new bill number was needed given the new session of Congress. S. 1461 ended the session with a total of 13 co-sponsors, with Senators Rubio and Landrieu the only two of that group to sign on as co-sponsors of S. 772 as of now.

Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.