North Dakota Will Legally Allow Cigar Lounges

On Monday, Gov. Doug Burgum signed into law H.B. 1229, which will allow cigar lounges to operate legally in North Dakota.

An amended version of the bill cleared the North Dakota House and Senate in recent weeks. The new law defines “cigar lounges” as businesses that generate at least 15 percent of their revenue from the sale of cigars.

In addition, lounges will need to:

• Have a valid certificate from the tax commissioner.
• Have a humidor on the premises.
• Be enclosed by solid walls or windows, have a ceiling and a solid door
• Have a ventilation system by which exhausted air is not recirculated to nonsmoking areas and smoke is not back-streamed into nonsmoking areas.
• Not allow the smoking of any other materials other than cigars that were purchased on the premises.

If a store meets the requirements, smoking will be permitted in the enclosed and ventilated areas.

A previous version of the bill also would have allowed for cigar bars—defined as businesses that generate at least 2 percent of their revenue from the sale of cigars—but that provision was removed by the North Dakota Senate.

This has been a multi-year effort led by Rep. Dan Ruby, R-Minot. In 2021, Ruby’s bill passed the House but was defeated by one vote in the North Dakota Senate.

“We would like to thank Representative Ruby for his hard work and dedication in spearheading this legislation,” said Glynn Loope, director of state advocacy for the Premium Cigar Association, in a press release.  “We want to give a special thanks to Josette M. Dupree of Big Stick Cigars in Mandan, ND, for her tireless efforts and advocacy on behalf of the cigar community in North Dakota. Her work and dedication were instrumental in helping to get this bill passed.”