February 19, 2017 Patrick Lagreid Regulations,  Smoking Bans

Richlands, Va. Passes Smoking Ban

The town of Richlands, Va. has enacted a new ban that prohibits the use of tobacco, e-cigarettes and vaporizers not just in the standard list of businesses but also in the majority of the town’s parks and recreation areas.

The ordinance passed by the council at its Feb. 14 meeting, provides an allowance for designated smoking areas within parks, as well as designated smoking areas within bowling alleys, bingo halls and waiting rooms for public transportation.

Additionally, bars and lounge areas were granted an exemption, as were retail tobacco stores, rooms rented for private functions, select portions of offices, convenience stores and lobbies of places of entertainment, such as theaters and auditoriums. Restaurants will have to designate non-smoking areas if they have at least 50 seats, though the ordinance encourages all restaurants to designate non-smoking areas.

According to a repot from SWVAToday.com, the ordinance was granted emergency status, which allowed the second reading to be bypassed and the law to go into effect immediately.

Richlands is located in the western part of the state and is home to just under 6,000 residents.

Richlands Smoking Bans Tazewell County Virginia
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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, the G-League's Valley Suns, 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.

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