Boston Smoking Ban

CIGAR PROTESTS HAVING AN EFFECT IN BOSTON

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, October 10, 2008– Although the Boston Public Health Commission's recommendations to further local smoking bans are getting a good reception at City Hall, cigar smokers strongly protested the closure of cigar bars.

According to the Boston Globe, there are only cigar bars that would be affected, but Cigar Masters co-owner Brett Greenfield pointed out that "there aren't people who are in there who are expecting not to be around second-hand smoke."

The city's director of public health, Dr. Barbara Ferrer, says she wants to "de-normalize" smoking and "Ideally, I'd like to say by 2025 that we don't have anybody smoking."

However, the argument made by the cigar bars is receiving some interest. Mayor Tom Menino told the Globe, "I understand they've been there for a while and I want to work with the cigar bars. I cannot, during these tough economic times, prevent them from doing business."

The restrictions, which face a final vote by the commission's seven-member board on Nov. 13, also would ban smoking on outdoor patios at restaurants and other businesses and prohibit tobacco sales on college campuses and by all drug stores in the city.