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…

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The smoking ban that went into effect recently In Montreal, Quebec, has claimed a very high profile victim. The Davidoff boutique has closed its doors after serving the city for the last twenty-five years.

The closing comes as a result not only of the anti-smoking legislation but also an ambitious expansion plan that came at exactly the wrong time and ran head-on into the anti-smoking legislation.

Jasmin Legatos of the Montreal Gazette provides more details:

Inside the doors of the Davidoff boutique on Sherbrooke St., the spicy and full aroma of pipe tobacco is immediately noticeable.

There are few other places in Montreal where cigar enthusiasts can walk into a bedroom-sized humidor for their pick of high quality Cuban or Dominican specialties boutique, manager Vince Bourgoin said.

But a quarter-century after David Cigars Corporation of Canada, an importer of tobacco products, began operating the store, it has decided to close.

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Our friends at the Stogie Guys send word that the Washington Nationals baseball team has officially rejected a proposal they came up with to designate a number of seats in the upper level of RFK Stadium for an upcoming home game as “cigar friendly.”

For now.

Empty seats for Washington Nationals baseball games at RFK stadium in Washington, DC

The light at the end of the tunnel is that Carleen Martin, director of marketing and promotions for the Washington Nationals, said that the franchise would reconsider the proposal next year. Perhaps Martin also should consider how successful other major league baseball teams have been with cigar promotions at their stadiums.

I’m not sure how much of a light the statement about “reconsidering the proposal” is, coming as it does in a town where being “sent back to committee” usually means that nothing is ever done. However, it is better than a complete rejection and maybe there is something Cigar Envy readers can do to help the Nats make a different decision.

More on that — and the freebies the Nats passed up to promote the cigar event — below the fold.

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Related Link: Washington Car Insurance Quote free quotes

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.

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From Karin Goodwin at The Sunday Times, Scotland:

He may have saved the country from Nazi occupation but even Winston Churchill is not exempt from the tentacles of political correctness.

Because of the ban on smoking in public places, Britain’s greatest wartime prime minister will be without his trademark cigar when he is portrayed on stage at the Edinburgh Fringe festival later this year.

Mel Smith, the comedian and actor who will play him in a production of Allegiance, a play about a little-known meeting between Churchill and Michael Collins, the Irish revolutionary, could be forced to use a plastic replacement.

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From Howard Fischer at Capitol Media Services:

A self-proclaimed cigar aficionado is launching an initiative drive to help preserve his ability and that of other smokers to light up in restaurants and bars.

The measure would let business owners decide whether their establishments have to be smoke free. But those who choose to permit customers to indulge who have to post a “conspicuous sign” that smoking is allowed inside.

These businesses also would have to tell would-be employees that smoking is allowed, permitting them to decide if they want to work their anyway.

But Eric Ulis, who created the “Arizona Cigar Lobby” of tobacco shops, said Tuesday that nothing in his measure would prohibit cities from enacting their own tougher ordinances.

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