Go out - no, run out - and pick up the new (Feb '04) issue of Vanity Fair and immediately turn to page 34, and read the editor's letter ("Breaking the Law in Michael Bloomberg's New York").

Here is an excerpt: "Under current New York City law, it is acceptable to have a loaded handgun in your place of work, but not an empty ashtray. The smoking police, who have been given instruction on how to identify an ahstray, have also been given such broadly drawn powers by the mayor that they can enter offices or small businesses in search of an offending ashtray without permission or without notice."

Are you KIDDING ME?! What kind of an alleged "democracy" are we living in?! What happened to 'freedom of choice?'

The letter is a MUST read; whether you're a 'cigar aficionado' or just someone who is concerned about the current state of individual rights in this country.

Now, I'll gladly step off of my 'Saturday-soapbox,' go eat a nice pasta & Zin lunch, and just mabye...I'll follow it up with a CAO Criollo Pato. And I will thank my personal Gods above that Michael Bloomberg is NOT the mayor of Nashville, TN.

Jon Huber

Chief Marketing Officer

CAO Cigars

Hi John,

So I am assuming that since CAO is a place of business and sells ashtrays, if they were in NY, that they would be breaking the law?

And that if you were "testing" new cigars, that would also be a violation of the law?

What about the businesses that sell ashtrays?

Are these businesses breaking the law?

If so, do they confiscate them and no longer allowed to sell them?

Restaurants and taverns that used to allow smoking.....

Are they required to destroy or remove the ashtrays from their businesses?

And if a child has made a clay "ashtray" or container for Mom or Dad and they have it on their desk, the police can determine it is an ashtray and fine them or confiscate it?

Is NY going to change their name to the United Socialist Republic of New York?

John,

You may also be interested to know that Washington is trying to pass a law about smoking in any public place. Which includes, any downtown sidewalk, public parks and most outside areas.

As I read their intent (I may have misinterpreted it), it seems as though the only place you will be allowed to smoke is on your own private property and I would assume that if the smoke carries off your property, you might be in trouble.

This is a case where someone has gone too far in using their power to make people bend to their will.

Next, they will be going after folks with wood/coal stoves for heat, people who have smokers (fish and meat, which includes most of Washington and Oregon) and folks who use fuel oil for their heating.

As someone who lives in a country area, it makes little sense.

hey, even in your own home you might not be safe.

as was mentioned about the "your smoke drifting" scenario -- it happens.

we would get -- and check out -- complaints of smoke smells. get to an apt. and someone would WALK US DOWN THE HALL to stand in front of SOMEONE ELSE'S DOOR where they were smoking inside. yes, you could VAGUELY smell tobacco smoke (usually cigarette, but we got complaints about cigars and pipes, too), but come on! this would inevitably be pretty #($@#!% far down from the complaintant's door.

shut your gob, go to your own home, and quit trying to make hell for other people to pay, already! ENOUGH!

oh-- and i do mean police complaints here, not civil issues. insane...

antonio

Glad I live in Viginia. Just came home from a little herf with at a local sports bar. I mean really, how can you have bar and not allow smoking.

now ashtrays are illegal too! friggin' morons!

Its all about control F$$K this Bastids.

The law he talks about in WA. state is accually just in Pierce county. Seem the county dept. of helth has taken it upon themselves to ban smoking in the county, regardless of what voters say.

As in both cases I dont see how they are not ruled unconstitutional. A bar, resturant, etc. are a private enterprise,have the right to run that institution the way they see fit.As a coustumer if I dont smoke I need not patronize their joints.

Just my $0.02 worth

all of this crap is really about cigarettes and cigarette smoke.

all the studies i have heard about or read, discuss end hand cigarette smoke. nothinjg ever about pipes, or cigars has been studied to my knowledge.

make the manufacture of cigarettes illegal. the cigarette is the only consumable product not covered by either the FDA or the DEA.

but it's consumption seems to be getting controlled by a few whiny little f**kers with too much time on their hands and too little else to do.

when toby is in a grocery store, i sit outside with my cigar, my coffee, and my dog. i have never had anyone from any store come out and tell me the smoke is bothering customers in the store. it can't, the store is a higher pressure then the outside so cold air can get out and smoke can't get in.

i have had a few idiots stop and start to say something to me, that doesn't start with, that reminds me of my grandfather, or that smells good, or something pleasant. the idiots that stop and start with "you know second hand...", i just look at and quietly say, "go away"

Just some of the reasons why I moved out of NYC and moved further upstate. Generally speaking though, smoking a cigar in NY is difficult.

Ed

How do liberals vs. conservatives line up on the smoking ban laws? Are both political halves of the country pretty evenly divided on the issue? I don't think so, but I'm just asking. Might make for a lively debate.

Anyway, cigarettes will never be outlawed. The government makes more money off the sale of a pack of cigarettes than R.J.Reynolds does. Even the Mafia in its heyday was never so greedy. Your freedom-loving government will, however, continue making smokers as miserable as possible to appease the _______s. (insert liberal or conservative). But I'm not cynical.

The editor's letter is just a prelude of the article that appears in VF....

The piece ("I Fought the Law") written by Chistopher Hitchens - which appears on page 70 of the aforementioned VF issue - is a personal account of the author's "one-man crime spree" in 'Bloombergville,' aka NYC. Among the violations that are accompanied by citations and fines are:

1) A bicycle rider removes his/her feet from the peddles. (Fine: $100)

2) Taking up two seats on the subway (regardless of how empty/full the train is). (Fine: $50)

3) Feeding pigeons in a public park. (Fine $50)

So you see, the anti-smoking issue is the tip of the iceberg. I think that Hitchens summed it up in his last paragraph:

"This current Niagra of pettiness and random victimization may well be Bloomberg's attempt at a wannabe reputation as heroic crime-fighter and disciplinarian. All we know for certain is that one of the world's most broad-minded and open cities is now in the hands of a picknose control freak."

Liberal/conservative, Republican/Democrat, it makes no matter to me - what DOES matter to me is the infringement upon personal rights which goes against everything this country is supposedly about.

when i want discipline, i'll seek it in the form of a hot woman in leather -- not some pasty-faced white boy with spaghetti-sphincteritis. 😛

antonio

OHHH RII-ICK! I'll concede this one to you! Bloomberg was the Republican choice in NYC, and I guess they made a mistake there! So let it be known that when a republican turns sour, I'll be the first to say "we screwed up backing that guy!"