New Orleans City Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell to Introduce Smoking Ban

Posted on by bostonjimmie

New Orleans the city of fun and partying may introduce a comprehensive smoking ban. This is but just another right being taken away from us. To make matters worse, in 2015, the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers (IPCPR) Association is planning their annual convention in July. This should make for some interesting times in New Orleans. You can read the full text of the ordinance here:

Below is the article from the Cigar Rights of America (CRA) Executive Director J. Glynn Loope. Please read this and fight for your cigar rights. If you are not a member of the CRA you can join on their website; https://www.cigarrights.org/ It is only $25.00 for an individual membership and you will get two premium cigars for joining. It is a small price to pay to defend your cigar rights. I have also set up the hash tag #StopLaToyaCantrell on Instagram if you want to raise awareness.

By J. Glynn Loope, CRA Executive Director

I just received a notice that my local cigar club would be open over the Thanksgiving holiday and thought, what a moment that would be: sitting in that bastion of quiet serenity, watching football and a James Bond movie marathon, and having a cigar after the traditional meal. At a time when our hearts and focus should be on family, friends, giving thanks, and the approaching holiday season, others have a differing agenda – one that would complicate such moments for those who simply want to enjoy a cigar – seemingly across the continent.

In City Hall…

New Orleans doesn’t just belong to Louisiana. It is a national icon. Like Las Vegas, New Orleans is a city built around great restaurants, a bar scene of historic proportions, and spots such as The Cigar Factory in The French Quarter that gives any cigar enthusiast a reason to make the pilgrimage. Cigar shops dot the landscape, as do the bars that welcome our patronage.
However, New Orleans City Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell wants to end the fun. As CRA first warned on August 25 and again on October 17, she has now introduced the comprehensive smoking ban she so carefully had been plotting, and it is a political reality to contend with.
In 2015, New Orleans will host over fifty premium cigar manufacturers – CRA supporters – for an annual tradeshow. The new blends they will unveil will then make their way to your local Great American Cigar Shop. Apart from jeopardizing this event, Cantrell’s proposal threatens commerce, property rights, and small businesses – all in an economically fragile city that is still recovering from past misfortunes.
The proposal holds no exemption for cigar bars, and the outside smoking ban provisions defy logic. The media has criticized the proposal as being a “cutting and pasting” of smoking ban measures from around the nation creating a draconian collage that seeks to impose the nanny-state in a city built to defy that very system.
That’s why CRA has pledged its support to the Freedom to Choose Coalition. CRA has been in contact with its charter members and has committed to support their efforts to protect local New Orleans businesses. The members include: the Louisiana Restaurant Association, the French Quarter Business League, the Louisiana Amusement and Music Operations Association, the Louisiana Video Gaming Association, the Louisiana Association of Wholesalers, and Harrah’s Casino. CRA has also committed its support to the Louisiana Casino Association.