On Alert: The Cigar Industry is Coming to Your Town

Smokefree successes over the years have backed the tobacco industry into a corner, and the cigar industry is coming out to redefine itself and specifically align itself with culture – every culture.

Make no mistake – We all fit the cigar industry’s target demographic which is evidenced by the recent efforts to introduce cigar bar exemptions in demographically-different cities and states throughout the country. Urban cities and rural states faced challenges to smokefree protections from the cigar industry. In an era where cigarettes have become widely unpopular, the cigar industry is working to be embraced as a social and cultural norm – from cowboys to country clubs, from barber shops to brunches. Proposed policy exemptions and rollbacks are the latest attempt to renormalize smoking and the industry is hoping that we are unprepared to defend smokefree protections against cigar threats.

Montana Holds the Line Against Big Tobacco

In a hard-fought legislative session, advocates for tobacco control in Montana successfully blocked more than a dozen harmful bills aimed at weakening public health protections. These included attempts to defund tobacco prevention efforts and weaken Montana’s strong Clean Indoor Air Act (CIAA).

One of the most alarming bills that would have created an exemption in the highly popular CIAA to allow cigar bars to operate indoors came dangerously close to passing, reaching its final vote before being narrowly defeated on third reading. If passed, cigar bars could have opened in communities across Montana, creating smoke-filled, unhealthy worksites and exposing workers in these new venues to toxic secondhand cigar smoke on the job.

C.B. Pearson of Montana Kids vs Big Tobacco summed up this legislative win saying:

“The defeat of the cigar industry’s attempt to weaken Montana’s 20-year-old Clean Indoor Air Act is a clear win for public health and the rights of all to breathe clean air. Montanans overwhelmingly support smokefree indoor spaces, and no one wants to see that progress undone to benefit a select few cigar smokers and the cigar industry. We must remain vigilant and push back against any industry effort to carve out exemptions that put our communities at risk.”

Adding a cigar bar exemption is a long-standing tobacco industry tactic aimed at undermining strong and effective local and statewide smokefree laws; laws that have protected public health in Montana for more than two decades. While it’s likely the industry will try for a cigar bar exemption again next session in 2026, for now, Montana advocates are celebrating this year’s defeat alongside key wins, including the passage of legislation that updates the Montana CIAA to include e-cigarettes and vape products in smokefree protections.

Cigar Bar Exemptions Should Not Become the New Normal

Pro-cigar stakeholders are leveraging even the smallest of wins to build momentum for the social acceptability of cigar lounges. Every rollback or exemption – no matter how small – is a win for the industry and reestablishes the new normal. Rationale for embracing these new smoking lounges include support for economic development, supporting minority-owned business, or protecting smokers’ rights. There is never a good time or reason for supporting compromises to public health and safety. Montana’s failed cigar bar exemption bill is an example of the aggressive push in many states by the cigar industry to enable indoor smoking in a range of venues that include not just cigar bars, but also airports, bars, music venues, casinos, and other workplaces and public places. The recent rollback in Louisville, KY and the ongoing struggle to keep cigar lounges out of the Detroit airport demonstrate the urgency for protecting smokefree environments and sharing lessons learned with the field.

Smoke is Smoke

Aggressive marketing efforts work to create a cigar-smoking culture too exclusive to be challenged or too insignificant to be concerned about. Smoke is smoke, and protecting smokefree environments requires pushing back and challenging misinformation. The industry banks on the perception that “premium” cigars are somehow less harmful than cigarettes, but that is inaccurate. A single full-size cigar can contain as much nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes, and secondhand cigar smoke is just as toxic. It contains the same harmful chemicals as cigarette smoke and contributes to lung cancer, heart disease, and other serious health risks. Even if a cigar smoker doesn’t inhale, nicotine and other toxins can still be absorbed through the lining of the mouth, posing dangers to both smokers and those around them.

We anticipate seeing more attempts to undermine smokefree indoor air laws. Let us know if you’re seeing cigar bar or lounge proposals in your community. Together we can protect and expand smokefree protections. 

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About ANRF, sister organization to ANR, American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation (ANRF) is a 501c3 non-profit educational and advocacy group that has been working for nearly 50 years to protect everyone’s right to breathe nontoxic air in workplaces and public places, from offices and airplanes to restaurants, bars, and casinos. ANRF has continuously shined a light on the tobacco industry’s interference with sound and life-saving public health measures and successfully protected 61% of the population with local or statewide smokefree workplace, restaurant, and bar laws. ANRF aims to close gaps in smokefree protections for workers in all workplaces, including bars, music venues, casinos, and hotels. For more information, please visit https://no-smoke.org/. ANRF projects include https://smokefreecasinos.org/ and https://smokefreemusiccities.org/.

Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) is a member-supported,501c4, non-profit advocacy group that has been working for over 45 years, since 1976, to protect everyone’s right to breathe nontoxic air in workplaces and public places, from offices and airplanes to restaurants, bars, and casinos. ANR has continuously shined a light on the tobacco industry’s interference with sound and life-saving public health measures and successfully protected 61% of the population with local or statewide smokefree workplace, restaurant, and bar laws. ANR aims to close gaps in smokefree protections for workers in all workplaces, including bars, music venues, casinos, and hotels. nonsmokersrights.org

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