So this is a little rant I have about how the U.S. is determined to ruin the smoking experience for cigar and pipe lovers. As you know I recently moved to Maine for work and so naturally my first instinct is to find a local cigar lounge. Ironically there is a cigar shop within walking distance of my house, but there is no lounge, and outside is currently too cold to endure an enjoy a fine cigar, so I forced to smoke elsewhere.
Anyway, I found two other cigar lounges to enjoy a smoke but only one of them was allowed to serve any food or beverage. The second lounge, Saco River Cigars, has a decent lounge space but you are not allowed to drink anything while attending. I mean nothing; no sodas, no beers, not even water! I was talking with the owner and he mentioned that because of state law, only one lounge is allowed to serve food and beverage because it was grandfathered in. I also learned that in Portland they have raised the smoking purchase age to 21 (like many other states) and that law will extend to the rest of the state by the end of this year. As a casual cigar smoker you hear and read about these laws being passed in various places and you always wind up thinking to yourself, “man that is awful, I’m glad its not here though”. I have news for you, it IS here! I am feeling the effects of these superfluous laws on a personal level and it is an outrage. I know we are all upset about the laws in this country imposing our right to smoke, but we as cigar smokers and lobbyists have to do more. It’s not enough to complain about it as it is to do something about it. Write letters and make phones calls to your local congressmen, senators, city council, mayors, anyone you can get ahold of to tell them “This is wrong and leave us alone!”
Well that’s my rant I wanted to share to hopefully shed some light on what’s going on. If you have had your rights taken away or want to share in my anger, write to us on this website or share your story on our facebook page Cigar Tipsters. If we like your story we might even share it on our podcast! Thanks for reading.