The Threat to the Enjoyment of Cigars

Between 1920 and 1933, America experienced the renowned period that was known as Prohibition. With the grassroots movement against alcohol led by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League, the United States government enacted its sweeping ban on the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages. Even though the federal government did not prohibit private ownership and consumption, some local and state governments went as far as banning actual possession.

Flash forward to June 22, 2009, when President Barack Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sweeping regulatory power over all things tobacco. Although the FDA is prohibited from creating any outright ban on a product, the regulatory agency can create barriers that make the introduction of new products virtually impossible. However, there is a little-known codicil in the act that gives local and state governments the authority to implement more stringent ordinances and legislation on tobacco products, especially in the arena of sales and distribution restrictions.

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