Legislation (HR 792) reintroduced in US House to prohibit FDA from regulating large premium cigars

[Bill Godshall]

Rep. Bill Posey and 24 cosponsors have introduced HR 792 to prohibit FDA from regulating large premium cigars.

Not sure why the bill only has 25 cosponsors, as the same bill introduced last session had more than 220 cosponsors (which is a majority of US House members). Perhaps the other cosponsors from last session's bill are waiting for more campaign contributions from cigar companies.

To see the bill or info about it, go to
THOMAS (Library of Congress)
click on "bill number" and type in HR792

 

[DC2]

Rep. Bill Posey and 24 cosponsors have introduced HB 792 to prohibit FDA from regulating large premium cigars.

How does the cigar market get so much legislative support?

Is the market size for cigars really that much larger than electronic cigarettes?
Or is it just that all these legislators smoke cigars themselves?

 

[Stubby]

I believe there is something like 14 million cigar smokers in the US. There is also about 10 million smokeless tobacco users. Compare that to perhaps 2 1/2 million electronic cigarette users. Cigar smoking has also been around for a much longer time going into the hundreds of years. vaping is the fastest growing segment of tobacco/nicotine users (likely followed by smokeless tobacco) but it is still a long way from being the most popular.

 

[trailblazer6]

Personally, I would like to see the current sequestration cut eliminate the FDA

 

[Bill Godshall]

Please note that HR 792 would only exempt "large premium cigars" from FDA regulation, not "little cigars" or other "large cigars" (which are three different types of cigar products and markets).

Large premium cigars account for just 3% of the overall cigar market share, but account for 30% of all cigar revenue (because they cost from $4-$25 per cigar).

DC2 inquired

How does the cigar market get so much legislative support?

Because the Large Premium Cigar companies and consumers have been aggressively lobbying (at the grass tops and at the grass roots respectively) to exempt their products from FDA legislation

The Large Premium Cigar companies and consumers have also been aggressively lobbying at the state level to oppose cigar tax hikes, to oppose ad valorem taxation (i.e. taxing as a % of price), and to enact a cap on cigar taxes (e.g. $1/cigar).

In sharp contrast to consumer driven e-cigarette advocacy campaigns, several Large Premium Cigar companies have created these lobbying campaigns, including creating Cigar Smokers Rights groups to mobilize their customers (who include many wealthy men) to contact legislators.

Unlike Large Premium Cigar companies, Little Cigar manufacturers have very little lobbying clout, which is why most states now tax a pack of 20 little cigars at the same rate they tax a pack of 20 cigarettes.

Philip Morris (which opposes HR 792 since it protects cigars made by other companies, but not PM's cigars) and Swedish Match are now major players in the non premium Large Cigar market.

These cheaper Large Cigars include Blunts (used by urban blacks to smoke weed) and many flavored cigar products (that anti tobacco extremists falsely claim are target marketed to youth).

 

[Rickajho]

How does the cigar market get so much legislative support?

Is the market size for cigars really that much larger than electronic cigarettes?
Or is it just that all these legislators smoke cigars themselves?

I strongly suspect the latter.

 

[Rickajho]

I believe there is something like 14 million cigar smokers in the US. There is also about 10 million smokeless tobacco users. Compare that to perhaps 2 1/2 million electronic cigarette users. Cigar smoking has also been around for a much longer time going into the hundreds of years. Vaping is the fastest growing segment of tobacco/nicotine users (likely followed by smokeless tobacco) but it is still a long way from being the most popular.

Even if that is true, we are now splitting the hair over "premium" cigars. They still want to regulate low ball cigars - no flavoring additives allowed in the cigar offerings at the local Kwikee Mart. But don't you dare be messing with their $200.00 Cubans.

Beyond this sounding like a pet perk it's starting to smack of a class issue as well. Only "good" people smoke expensive cigars. Only "bad" people smoke cheap ones.

 

[Bill Godshall]

Large Premium Cigar companies are not advocating or endorsing high taxes and unwarranted regulations for cigars made by other companies, but rather they are simply and appropriately fighting to protect their products from unwarranted taxation and regulation.

While I (and many others) oppose FDA regulating any type of e-cigarette, cigar, pipe tobacco, hookah, dissolvable, etc., nobody should expect Large Premium Cigar companies to fight for Little Cigars or other Large Cigars, just and nobody should expect any cigar company to fight for e-cigarettes, pipe tobacco, etc.

Unlike Little Cigars and other Large Cigars that are made by highly automated machines, Large Premium Cigars are hand rolled (and would be far more vulnerable to FDA regulations than comodity cigars.

I also support Large Premium Cigar company's efforts to limit taxes on cigars.

Since all cigars are similarly hazardous, they should all be taxed at the same rate (per cigar).

But a 50% tax on a $1 cigar is $.50, while that same 50% tax on a $25 cigar is $12.50.

In order to achieve their goal of imposing enormous taxes on all Other Tobacco Products, anti tobacco extremists (i.e. CTFK, ACS, AHA, ALA) have been lobbying state legislatures to tax cigars, smokeless tobacco, pipe tobacco (and now e-cigarettes) at the same (or similar) percentage of price that cigarettes are taxed at (even though cigarettes are taxed by the pack, not based upon price).

The fairest way to tax cigars (for States, companies and consumers) is per cigar (e.g. $.04/cigar) and the fairest way to tax smokeless tobacco products is by weight (e.g. by the ounce).