The D.C. Council has proposed to ban the sale of individual cigars and tobacco leaf wraps in convenience stores and gas stations throughout the city.
The legislation aims to curb marijuana use in the District, something Ward 7 Councilwoman Yvette Alexander said the sale of the cheap, individually wrapped cigars promotes.
According to Alexander, the primary use of the items she’s trying to ban through the bill she pioneered is for rolling “blunts”– cigars emptied of their tobacco contents and refilled with marijuana.
If passed, the ban would affect convenience stores and gas stations citywide — stores, such as family-owned Fair Price Market at 14th Street and Massachusetts Avenue NW, which sells close to 100 individually wrapped cigars and tobacco leaf wraps per week.
“[A ban] would affect my profits,” store owner Anwar Haq said as he stood before the colorfully stocked shelves of Swisher Sweet and Dutch Masters brand cigars.
Alexander, however, is unmoved by such arguments.
“It’s exploiting the community for them to say it’s a major source of their income,” Alexander said. “I believe the major source of income at a gas station should be gasoline and the major source of income at a corner store should be nonperishable food items, so I wonder what kind of business they’re really in.”
Priced at about $1.50 each, individual cigars and tobacco leaf wraps might not be the mainstay of corner stores such as Fair Price Market, but their sales do account for profits that would be lost under the council’s plan.
And the list of the bill’s adversaries doesn’t stop there: Many cigar aficionados worry its wording is too vague and could keep them from readily enjoying premium cigars.
“There’s no reason for the legislation,” said Cigar Rights of America Executive Director Glynn Loope, holding a cigar between his fingers. “I don’t believe it will decrease the use [of marijuana]; it seems to be just another one of those policy flavors of the month.”
But Alexander said cigar bars and tobacco shops would be exempt under the bill, and that these establishments will remain unaffected.
A hearing on the bill is scheduled for Sept 29. Eight of the 13 council members have endorsed the bill, and Alexander said she is confident it will pass.
