Stogie Commentary: Vote Smart!

Election Day is right around the corner and now, more than ever, your right to light up a cigar may be at stake when you cast your ballot.

The Tobacco Merchants Association and Retail Tobacco Dealers of America have identified 14 tobacco-related ballot initiatives (pdf) and over 40 proposed bills that may affect where you smoke, what you smoke, and how much your smoke costs.

We highly recommend (1) reading up on the initiatives and (2) calling the candidates to find out where they stand on laws that would diminish smokers’ rights. If you are not voting for a candidate because of their position on such laws, then you should let them know it was their anti-smoker position that turned you off. Politicians need to know that many people are making decisions about who to vote for based on candidates’ positions on smoking issues.

Finally, since the two biggest issues facing Stogie Guys this election are smoking bans and tobacco taxes, here are our positions on these important issues:

Smoking Bans

Health Nazis tell us that smoking bans are necessary to protect people from the dangers of tobacco smoke, both first- and second-hand, but the truth is everyone – employees, patrons, and owners – has a choice about being exposed to smoke. If people truly demand smoke-free establishments, then places will open to meet that demand, rendering government-imposed regulation unnecessary.

We believe that people are smart enough to choose for themselves and take responsibility for their actions. Therefore, smoking bans are nothing but ugly paternalism that must be opposed.

Tobacco Taxes

Proposals to spend taxpayers’ money on government projects that small groups of people claim are for the common good should always be examined skeptically. However, even if you think that a particular project meets your standard for a “good use of government power” (whatever that may be), you should still oppose taxes on tobacco that target the small minority of people who are smokers.

As we’ve said before, if politicians cannot convince citizens that taxes to fund their pet projects should be spread broadly across the tax base, they should reevaluate the necessity of the program – not look for a more vulnerable group with which to saddle the burden. Tobacco taxes are nothing more than the bullying of an oppressed minority by well-funded “activists,” and they should always be opposed.

On Tuesday, November 7, go out and vote like your cigar depends on it – It just might!

–Patrick S