April 29, 2024 Patrick Lagreid Weekly News

Weekly News (April 29, 2024)

Biden Administration Delays Planned Menthol Cigarette Ban

I’ve said numerous times that 2024 was likely to be dominated by flavored tobacco bans around the country, and in hearing that the Biden Administration has delayed its plan for a menthol ban, my first reaction was that it bound to light a fire under a number of lawmakers in cities and states around the country to take matters into their own hands. We’ve seen statewide bans passed in California and Massachusetts, plus a number of local ordinances, and I can only imagine more are on the way.

Scott Pearce Leaving PCA to Become CAA President

I’m interested to see just what move holds for the futures of both organizations and the industry as a whole. For most consumers, the Cigar Association of America isn’t a well-known organization, yet it has been doing a lot of work in the courtroom to keep the FDA and regulation away from the cigar industry. As for PCA, it’s best known for its annual trade show, which has been moved from the summer to the spring under Pearce’s leadership, and whoever fills the empty executive director chair will be tasked with making sure that the change delivers the kind of results those who lobbied for it wanted, among the many other things the organization does. The move could also create an interesting new synergy between the two organizations, which would seemingly be beneficial for an industry that’s always in the crosshairs of regulation.

Minneapolis City Council Preserves Cigar Sampling Exemption, But Limits it to 15 Minutes

Watching the proceedings reminded me of the frustrations of government, as well as that there are still people fighting for cigar shops and small business. I’m all for public health, and I’m all for the ability of people to get together of their own free will and do things that might not align with the vision of those fighting for public health. The 15-minute compromise to allow for sampling in the one cigar shop in the city feels like absurdity; clearly previous lawmakers didn’t like the idea of cigar lounges in the city, someone fought to create a loophole, and now that loophole has been modified to a point where it’s irrelevant and incongruent to the activity of actually enjoying a cigar. There’s a better option than this, hopefully future lawmakers and citizens will be able to find it.

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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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