Baltimore wants to snuff out sales of low-cost, individual cigars:
The individual sale of low-cost cigars could be banned in Baltimore City under a proposal by city and health officials who called them “public nuisances.”
Mayor Sheila Dixon and city Health Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein on Wednesday proposed a new regulation requiring tobacco retailers to sell cigars in packs of five, saying cheap, tobacco-rich cigars are attractive to youths…
Violation of the proposal — which exempts tobacco shops and cigars that cost $2 or more — would be considered a misdemeanor and carry a fine no greater than $1,000.
In other words, upper class people can responsibly choose to smoke a cigar, but poor people need to have choices taken away from them. Ironically, my guess is that if this ban passed it would just drive teens and poorer customers to the more dangerous menthol cigarettes, not away from smoking entirely.
[Hat tip: Cigar Jack.]
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Jacob Grier is a freelance writer, barista, mixologist, and magician in Portland, OR. He writes, eats, and drinks a lot. His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, Reason Online, The Oregonian, and other publications.
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Or some enterprising youth buying a full pack, and then re-selling them individually for a nice markup on the quasi-black market. This is going to promote some low level capitalism.