Smokeshop

STAFF: Mark Pursell, C.E.O., mark@ipcpr.org; Kip Talley, Sr. Dir., Federal Legislative Affairs, kip@ipcpr. org; Matt Dogali, Sr. Dir., State Legislative Affairs, matt@ipcpr.org; Rachel Hyde, Legislative Affairs Manager, rachel@ipcpr.org; Dawn Conger, Sr. Dir., Assoc. Member Relations, dawn@ipcpr.org. OFFICERS: Craig Cass, President (Charlotte, N.C.); Ken P. Neumann, 1st V.P., (Libertyville, Ill.); John Anderson, 2nd V.P., (Washington, D.C.); Greg Zimmerman, Treasurer, (Lemoyne, Pa.); Scott Regina, Secretary, (Virginia Beach, Va.); Finnie Helmuth, Ex-Officio, (Cockeysville, Md.). BOARD MEMBERS: Veronica Fenner, Colorado Springs, Co.; Terry Gallagher, Boulder, Co.; Dave Garofalo, Salem, N.H.; Mike Howe, Tampa, Fla.; Mame Kendall, Bridgeville, Pa.; Todd Naifeh, Oklahoma City, Ok.; Mike Peacock, Euless, Texas; Kent Pennington, Addison, Texas; Vartan Seferian, Phoenix, Ariz.; Reagan Starner, Tuscaloosa, Al.; Jim Young, Pinellas Park, Fla. International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailer's Association (IPCPR), 513 Capitol Court N.E., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20002, Tel: (202) 621-8064, Web: www.ipcpr.org; Email: info@ipcpr.org, Twitter: @theIPCPR. 8 SMOKESHOP April 2016 E. Edward Hoyt III Editor & Associate Publisher Lily Coleman Art Director YiLing Yen Art Director Melinda Ayala Production Coordinator Thomas Briant Contributors Osvaldo A. Garcia Bryan Haynes Frank Seltzer LOCKWOOD TRADE JOURNAL CO., INC. Robert Lockwood President & Publisher Frederick Lockwood Vice President Rob Lockwood Executive Director Jamie Wolberg Events/Circulation Manager Roxanne Cordova-Melendez Accountant Yvonne Viruet Receptionist SMOKESHOP MAGAZINE Lockwood Trade Journal Co., Inc. 3743 Crescent Street, 2nd Floor Long Island City, NY 11101 Tel: (212) 391-2060, Fax: (212) 827-0945 Website: www.smokeshopmag.com Editorial submissions: Send new product announcements, corporate news, calendar events, letters to the editor, or story ideas to The Editor, editor@smokeshopmag.com SMOKESHOP (ISSN 0146-9266 print edition; ISSN 2331-8562 online digital edition), established in 1970, is published bimonthly (February, April, June, August, October, and December) by Lockwood Trade Journal Co., Inc., 3743 Crescent St., 2nd Floor, Long Island City, NY 11101 U.S.A. Postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mail- ing offices. Annual sub scrip tion rates: United States, $24; Canada, $34; all other countries $49 by surface or $69 by airmail, payable in advance. Copyright ©2016 by Lockwood Trade Journal Co., Inc. The contents of SMOKESHOP, and all articles, illustrations, photos, etc. are copyrighted and may not be reprinted except by permission. CPC agreement number 1477773. POSTMASTER: Please send all address changes to SMOKESHOP Magazine, P.O. Box 385, Congers, N.Y. 10920-9985 Single Issue: US$15 T H E I N D U S T RY A U T H O R I T Y O N T O B A C C O R E TA I L I N G Official Publication of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association Member: International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR); National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO); Tobacco- nists' Association of America (TAA); Cigar Rights of America (CRA). LETTER Editor's Smokeless Tobacco Bans Reach Far Beyond the Arguments of Second Hand Smoke Exposure W hen San Francisco banned smokeless tobacco use at all public athletic fields in the city last year—the first such ban in the U.S.—it wasn't a exactly a home-grown local effort. Rather, it was the non- profit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids that had approached city lawmakers and urged the move, the first step in its plan to purge smokeless tobacco from Major League Baseball entirely. Since then, Los Angeles (and then the entire state of California), Boston, and New York have all passed their own smokeless tobacco bans at athletic facilities hosting Major League Baseball games, bans that apply to both players and fans alike. Unlike public smoking bans, smokeless bans aren't aimed at protecting non-smokers or minors from the health concerns of second-hand smoke (an argument already stretched to its limits when used to justify outdoor smoking bans). Rather, they posit professional athletes as role models, while simultaneously imposing a paternalistic "it's dangerous, bad for your health, and you shouldn't use it anyway" restriction directly on the user. Never mind that it's a legal product and they are adults. The bans apply not only to traditional chewing tobacco and moist snuff, but also to more contemporary modified risk products such as snus, which is squarely caught at the crossroads of a wealth of reduced-risk research and ever-expanding tobacco intolerance. By increasingly shifting the conversation from protecting minors and non- tobacco users from inadvertent exposure to tobacco smoke, to one of scouring tobacco products from sight, the bigger goal of eradicating tobacco advances closer to fruition. The spread of smokeless tobacco bans throughout cities with Major League Baseball teams will continue in earnest until their proponent's mission is complete, and then they will move on to their next effort—perhaps lobbying cities to "close their loopholes" and extend their public smoking bans to include all smokeless products, since any visible use sets a bad example. Each effort keeps chipping away at tobacco's viability and the adult end user's ability to enjoy it if they so choose. Chewing tobacco is already banned by MLB at all minor league baseball games, but attempts to ban it at MLB games had been a contentious issue in contract negotiations with the players union, and one the league would just assume have banned at the local level anyway. E. Edward Hoyt III

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