For the moment, at least, it is still possible to light up a cigar while enjoying a game of golf.

Even in San Francisco, thanks what I will charitably call a change of heart.

The Board of Supervisors in the City by the Bay had originally voted to ban smoking at the city’s five public golf courses. Fears of loss of revenue won out over charges of elitism and a puritanical desire to further curb freedom, so if you visit San Francisco you can still light up on the links.

That will not last, of course.

Eventually, the anti-smoking crazies will be moving to aggressively protect us from “Death by Second-Hand smoke” as the silent — and mythical — killer wafts from tee to tee. So, you had better enjoy the freedom to light up while golfing while you can.

And to help you enjoy golf and cigars a little more, we have some tips from the Stogie Guys.

The article contains four tips that are specific, and useful. More about that after the jump.

[more…]

When you think of July 4th in the United States, the number 13 might come to mind.

The 13 original colonies and the War for Independence?

Thirteen stars in a circle on the legendary first U.S. flag Betsy Ross sewed?

Liberty?

Freedom?

Well, this year you can also think of the 13 state-wide bans against smoking in public places, including restaurants, bars, clubs and some casinos, in the “land of the free and the home of the brave.” Colorado’s legislation, which went into effect just four days before Independence Day, brings us to that not-so-magical number.

The bad news continues below the fold…

[more…]

Recreation and Park Department officials in San Francisco are wondering if anyone is going to be able to see the park’s trees in the forest of signs they’ve been forced to put up.

So many restrictive laws and regulations have been passed in the California city, ironically noted for its free spirit in the counterculture heyday of the 1960’s, that they failed to add more than 1,000 “No Smoking” signs to the burden already marring the view of nature in hundreds of locations throughout the parks.

I wonder what would happen if some San Francisco residents brought suit against the County for visual pollution of the parks? What about all the energy wasted to make all of those signs, transport them, and put them up?

Heck, the signs might even be cutting down on available sunlight getting to the trees and plants, doing them serious injury. Or perhaps they are destroying the habit of some priceless insect or bird, and hurrying yet another species along the road to extinction.

More on the San Francisco outdoor smoking ban that is even being ignored by parts of San Francisco’s govenment as excessive is below the fold.

[more…]

From Rich Perelman at CigarCyclopedia:

A looming time bomb is ticking, which if it explodes in November, may close many of the retail tobacco stores in the state of California.

It goes by the name of “The Tobacco Tax Act of 2006.”

The latest initiative to come from the anti-tobacco lobby, this bill seeks primarily to raise the tax on cigarettes by 13 cents apiece or $2.60 per pack. The state already has an 87 cents per pack tax and the resulting $3.47 per pack rate would be the highest in the nation.

The measure creates a “Tobacco Tax of 2006 Trust Fund” in the state treasury, which in turn will fund a variety of health programs such as research and a variety of anti-tobacco advertising and promotional ventures for state and local government use.

But the insidious nature of this proposition is that California is the only state which links its tax on cigarettes to what are known as “other tobacco products” (“OTP”). These include cigars, pipe tobacco, smokeless, little cigars and roll-your-own cigarettes. It is this aspect of the proposition which will destroy California’s smokeshops. While the tax rate is not specified in the proposition, the state’s Board of Equalization would be required to impose a tax rate “equivalent” to the rate on cigarettes.

[more…]