Below is a listing of the latest news on legislative issues and anti-smoking movements affecting your personal freedom and rights to enjoy cigars. Get Involved, Learn about the Issues, and Take Action!
Lynch tobacco tax hike derails in committee
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| May 4th, 2010, 02:11 PM | New Hampshire |
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CONCORD – A plan to raise the tobacco tax went nowhere today.
The House Finance Committee skipped over a proposal to raise the tax by 20 cents a pack as part of its actions on a series of proposed tax hikes.
Gov. John Lynch proposed the increase as part of his plan to close a projected $220 million budget deficit.
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Council approves August cigar festival
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| April 21st, 2010, 02:11 PM | New Hampshire |
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Thick August air and cigar smoke will turn downtown Keene into a giant humidor this summer, but just for one day. At the April 15 City Council meeting councilors voted 11-3 in favor of allowing a local business owner to hold a cigar tasting event on the sidewalk outside his Central Square store on Aug. 28.
Clark Anderson, owner of CC&H Framing and Cigars, requested use of the sidewalk and parking spaces adjacent to his shop for the 12-hour event at which customers can purchase and smoke cigars. Anderson said the only difference between this event and his previous events is the date.
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New Hampshire Bill Would Allow Drinks in Cigar Bars
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| February 23rd, 2009, 01:21 PM | New Hampshire |
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FEB 23 - A bipartisan bill introduced in the New Hampshire House would, if passed, grant cigar bars the right to sell alcohol to its patrons so they could socialize and enjoy a smoke and cigar indoors.
Rep. John Hunt, R-Cheshire, and Rep. Edward Butler, D-Carroll, cosponsored the bill, which was referred last Wednesday to the Ways and Means Committee.
The bill would allow businesses deriving "60 percent of total business income" from cigar-related products to apply for the beverage and liquor license.
It has been over two years since the "Live Free or Die" state banned smoking from bars and restaurants.
The next hearing for the bill has not yet been set.
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House passed HB 392 to allow smoking in cigar bars
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| February 19th, 2009, 04:43 PM | New Hampshire |
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FEB 19 - Hous Bill 392, which would allow smoking in “cigar bars” has passed -- retailers with a liquor license who get 60 percent of their income from cigar related projects. The bill mainly pertains to one cigar bar in Conway that was caught up in the smoking restaurant ban. The bill now goes to the House Ways and Means Committee.
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Smokes and drinks: Bring cigar bars back
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| February 18th, 2009, 02:01 PM | New Hampshire |
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FEB 18 - Smokers in New Hampshire might get a reprieve from their banishment into the cold winter nights.
Two years ago, the Legislature created little huddles of smokers outside nightclubs and bars when it banned smoking in those establishments and restaurants. This year those smokers might be allowed to drink and socialize indoors.
House Bill 392, up for a vote in the House today, would allow cigar bars to obtain state liquor licenses. Currently, if you want to smoke and socialize at a bar-type establishment, you can go hang out at one of the state's growing number of cigar shops. But the shops cannot sell you a drink.
HB 392 would allow these cigar shops, often called cigar bars, to sell drinks to their customers. In short, it does two years later what legislators who wanted a smoking ban should have done in the first place -- leave smokers a few places of their own.
The bill won't allow smoking in regular bars or restaurants. To qualify, an establishment would have to generate at least 60 percent of its revenue from the sale of cigars and cigar-related products.
This is a great compromise that keeps regular bars and restaurants smoke-free while giving smokers a place to socialize and share a few drinks with friends. The House Commerce Committee voted 19-1 to recommend passage of the bill. Legislators ought to do that and correct the overreach of the 2007 smoking ban.
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