TOB Magazine

CRA’S CIGAR CORNER

[

J. GLYNN LOOPE ]

“ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL” IS THE TITLE of the open-

ing chapter in former Speaker of the U.S. House of Repre-

sentatives Tip O’Neill’s biography. It has since become the

operative term for anyone seeking office, or hoping to stay

in public office, with the lesson “do not lose touch with your

constituency.”

Since 2009, the mission and work of Cigar Rights of Amer-

ica in collaboration with associated trade organizations, has

been to raise the level of activism and awareness on the neces-

sity of the entire industry to be engaged in the legislative pro-

cess. Since then, petitions to elected officials have been sent on

dozens of local and state issues and nearly a half-million cigar

patrons have let their voices be heard in opposition to federal

regulation of cigars. But there is much more to be done.

I recall a day in 2006 when the Cigar Association of Vir-

ginia was fighting the first smoking ban in Virginia when I

mentioned to the retail tobacconists of the commonwealth,

“You now have to build politics into your job description.”

It’s not just about facilitating activism. It’s about building

cigar consumers and, even to this day, building retail tobac-

conists and manufacturers into a true political constituency.

Even for an industry as old as premium handmade cigars,

playing an aggressive role in the legislative process is still a

relatively new phenomenon. But let’s put this in context.

With well over 100 premium cigar manufacturers, approx-

imately 2,000 premium tobacconists and between three to

six million consumers, those passionate for and reliant upon

premium handmade cigars should be among the most sought

after special interest groups in the nation.

A few years ago, I addressed the Tobacconists Associa-

tion of America’s annual meeting, and noted that with their

membership of retail enterprises alone, they easily represent

at least two million cigar consumers. That is a special interest

group worth building.

As we began this story, it was about being “local.” Well, even

when discussing Washington, D.C., we are dealing with “lo-

cal.” Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S.

Senate must earn your support for reelection, and that makes

our collective voices important. 2017 represents a unique op-

portunity to “turn back the clock” on federal regulation, but it

will take an unprecedented level of outreach to both ends of

Pennsylvania Avenue to make that happen. At this early point

in the year, it also marks the opening and, by now, middle stag-

es of virtually every state legislature. All of this demands that

we be ever more engaged at each level of the industry.

As of today within state capitols, bills impacting premium

cigars on the tax front are pending in Kansas, Massachusetts,

Minnesota, New Hampshire, NewMexico, Ohio and Oregon.

State legislation on the enjoyment of cigars is pending in Vir-

ginia, Maine, Mississippi, Indiana and New Jersey.

CRA, as well as organizations such as IPCPR and the

National Association of Tobacco Outlets, are engaged in

grassroots outreach. When trying to galvanize the mass-

es on legislation in areas ranging from Salem, Oregon to

All Politics

is Local

Millions

of people

across the

country use

vapor devic-

es as a safer

alternative

to tobacco,

and in doing

so support

small busi-

nesses in

every state.

Boston, Massachusetts, there is no such thing as too many

emails, calls and requests for assistance or redundancy.

I was pondering this during the course of the new President’s

Administration confirmation process in Washington. I went

from office to office for the legislation to exempt premium cigars

from FDA oversight. Every office was being inundated with calls

and emails for and against nominees for the President’s cabinet.

Staff at the front desks in each office could not keep up with

the calls, with some noting “thousands” of messages, even after

the offices had closed and voice mail turned on. A list of “yeas

and nays” were constantly being tabulated if they were from the

home district or state. I just kept thinking, I wish we could get

that type of response with messages of “Protect the premium

cigar industry. Get the FDA out of our humidors!”

The tools remain the same, whether attacking an issue in

Washington D.C., your state capitol or city hall. Print this

list, and put it on the wall of your office. It’s how we can win:

Visit the local office of each of your legislators, wheth-

er a city councilman, state legislator or member of Con-

gress. Make sure they know your name, your business and

that you have customers who vote.

Invite your local, state and federal politicians into your

business for a Cigar Town Hall. Arrange for them to

meet some of your customers; that’s how they will know

you represent a true voting block.

Invite local media into your shop, to learn about your

issue and to send a message to your legislators that your

small business is being threatened by the actions of gov-

ernment (or can benefit from a given bill.)

Print speaking points and issue briefs for your custom-

ers, and have them available at point of sale; put them in

every bag that goes out the door.

Send email notices and links to petitions on legislation

when you are promoting sales and events.

Arrange for a “Capitol Day” or “City Council Night”

for your fellow tobacconists and patrons to highlight your

issues and always “stack a room” if you’re being threat-

ened by ordinances or legislation.

Calls are important. Make sure you and your patrons

call the offices of your legislators at all levels, and follow

up with letters and emails. It’s about volume, quality, and

consistency.

What sparked some of this thought was reading a com-

ment on social media from a gentleman who wished CRA

(and I guess others) would “do more than petitions.” Well,

this industry is still training its base to do anything at all, in

defense of the passion we share for great cigars.

Now that H.R. 564 and S. 294 have been filed in Con-

gress, calling for regulatory relief; now that there is an an-

ti-regulation agenda on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue

and now that dozens of state and local bills are working for

or against the interests of the industry and its customers, peti-

tioning your government could not be more important. Now,

however, petition means engagement as never before.

You can learn more about legislative issues pending

in your state in the Legislative Action Center at www.

CigarRights.org

Glynn Loope is

executive director

of Cigar Rights

of America.

[ T O B A C C O B U S I N E S S . C O M ]

TOBACCO BUSINESS

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