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When it comes to the District's smoking ban, the only folks who seem to be able to skirt the issue appear to be members of "boys clubs."
D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty signed legislation to lift the smoking ban last week so the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick could puff away at their 82nd Annual Dinner on Wednesday night at the Capitol Hilton. It was only the second time the ban has been lifted that we know of, and both times have benefited all-male events. . . .
Longtime organization member Bill Edwards was mum on the ban, but did offer some insight into the Friendly Sons. Membership is limited to 200, and new members are selected only when a member leaves.
For this dinner, each member can invite two guests.
"You do the math," Edwards said. "Members are from all walks of like and include doctors, dentists and bankers."
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The group Fight for Children wants to raise funds to improve the lives of poor children ["Two cigar-centered events get one-time D.C. smoking ban waiver," Metro, March 9]. This is a noble task indeed.
They, and their supporters like D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), invite people to watch boxing, which puts the boxers at risk for brain damage. Then they invite the spectators to damage their own bodies by smoking cigars. Do we have to destroy brains and lungs to raise money for kids?
The stogies will burn on St. Patrick's Day, thanks to legislation signed Wednesday by D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, one of the leading sponsors in 2006 of the city's smoking ban.
The bill, sponsored by D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), gives a one-time exemption from the city's smoke-free laws to two groups: the Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, which hosts an annual gathering of Washington's business and government elite March 17, and Fight for Children, which holds an annual, smoke-filled, professional boxing fundraiser.
The exemption measure, which passed on a 10 to 3 vote last week, put Fenty (D) in a political quandary. As a council member, he championed the District's smoking ban. But the waiver was backed by Evans, a close ally who is a member of the Friendly Sons, a group that draws national figures such as House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to its celebration of Irish-American culture at the Capital Hilton.
Here's the timing issue: The bill was transmitted to Mayor Adrian Fenty on March 8. The mayor now has 10 business days to decide whether to sign or veto the measure, taking him to March 22.
But Saint Patrick's Day is on March 17, so if the mayor doesn't act before then, the Friendly Sons won't be able to light up at their big event at the Capital Hilton next Wednesday.
SINCE WHEN is lighting up a stogie an integral part of St Patrick's Day celebrations?
Washington DC city councillor Jack Evans, a member of the all-male Society of the Friendly Sons of St Patrick, pushed emergency legislation through the council last week to exempt the Sons' annual dinner from the smoking ban which the council passed in 2006.
More than 600 men attend the Friendly Sons of St Patrick dinner at the Capital Hilton. Past guests have included supreme court justice Antonin Scalia, House majority leader Steny Hoyer and the national security adviser James Jones.
Martin McDonald, the justice counsellor at the Irish Embassy, will give a short speech this year.
Evans sought a waiver to the smoking ban for two events: the Sons' dinner and Fight for Children, a professional boxing fundraiser for poor children. . . .
Jackie McCarthy of the New York chapter said there would be no cigars at their dinner.
"I think it's kind of strange that they would allow it," she said. "Since the smoking ban came in, there's absolutely no leniency in it." . . .
Bradbery said she thought the waiver was un-Irish.
"In Ireland you passed a smoke-free law years before the district," she recalled.
"You guys don't smoke cigars in Ireland, so invoking that tradition is ridiculous. The Friendly Sons can go outside if they want to smoke. That's the law. They should abide by it."
For decades, Washington power brokers have gathered on Saint Patrick's Day to toast, and in some cases invent their Irishness with Guinness, Kelly green cummerbunds and cigar smoke.
Last year, they survived without the smoke. But not everyone was happy, to the point that one legislator has pushed an emergency bill in the D.C. Council to let the stogies burn next week, and tried to make a permanent exception to the city's smoke-free laws.
Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) has asked his council colleagues to keep tradition alive for the all-male Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and another organization, Fight for Children, which hosts an annual smoke-filled professional boxing fundraiser.
Evans, who is a member of the Irish organization, said the measure was narrowly crafted, making an exception for only two nights a year and protecting workers by allowing venue employees to opt out of working the events.
But the bill has proponents of the District's 2006 workplace smoking ban in a huff.
Angela Bradbery, co-founder of Smokefree DC, urged Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) in a letter Monday to veto the legislation that she said would force workers to choose between their health and a paycheck; open the door for other organizations to request exemptions; and send a message that "it's okay to break the law if you're on the council or a buddy of a council member."
The Washington D.C., City Council on Tuesday passed an amendment that will exempt hotels from the current smoking ban and allow them to host a special cigar-smoking event once per year.
Introduced by Councilman Jack Evans, D-Ward 2, the Special Event Exemption Emergency Act of 2010, which passed the council vote by a 10-3 margin, contains language outlining how a hotel can gain an exemption.
There is a new stimulus program that the folks in Washington, DC have started up for smokers who are trying to kick the habit. If you're trying to quit smoking, there is a new program set to cost $977,346 that will provide smokers with BlackBerry Smartphones for free to help them quit. The American Legacy Foundation is running this new stimulus program in which smokers will have a 24/7 line to get support while trying to quit via their free Blackberry smartphone.
Apparently smokers will have access to text support as well as the ability to connect with other smokers who are trying to quit. There will also be other options in case of a relapse, but there is no report that shows the specifics. It is also unclear what type of plan these Blackberry smartphones will come with and who the carrier will be.
Legislation authored by Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans would provide an exemption "once a year for one day for the purposes of hosting a special event which permits cigar smoking." Any hotel with banquet space for at least 500 could apply, and hotel employees must be allowed to opt out of working the event without penalty. Evans will ask his colleagues Tuesday to adopt the bill on an emergency basis. As it would take effect immediately, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick could light up during their annual St. Patrick's Day dinner at the Capitol Hilton. The organizers of Fight Night at the Washington Hilton, held in November, also might relish the exemption. Evans is a member of the Friendly Sons, a social organization for the area's Irish upper crust.
TOBACCO PRODUCTS SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE
DATE: March 30-31, 0830/1230
LOCATION: National Transportation Safety Board Conference Center, 429 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington
CONTACT: Cristi Stark, 240-276-3992
On March 30, the committee will cover receive presentations on the background and overview of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act and the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee.
Allow LL to follow up on the new city revenue projections for a second. In his letter to the mayor and D.C. Council, Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi informed them that a $.50 per-pack cigarette tax hike implemented last October has not gone as planned.
Because the increase, to $2.50, catapulted the District's rate over Maryland's $2-per-pack rate, Gandhi explains, many Maryland smokers who'd bought their tobacco in the District switched back to buying in Maryland. Add that to all the D.C. smokers who started buying cheap-as-dirt Virginia smokes, and you get the picture---instead of $45.4 million in revenue, Gandhi says the District will only bank $30 million.
But the legislative screw-up is more profound than that: The projections are now that this year's estimated cigarette tax revenues will fall below the pre-hike FY2009 levels ($37.6 million)---in other words, the tax hike got the city less revenue, not more. . . .
The good news: Maryland's currently considering another cig-tax hike, to $3.
The District of Columbia’s Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi learned a hard lesson this week after assessing the fiscal forecast for 2010: D.C. smokers weren’t happy with the city council after it upped the cost of cigarettes, and responded by depriving the District of millions in tax revenue.
Any nicotine fiend who’s dodged puddles of upchuck in Adams Morgan on a Friday night or maintained a distance of 30 feet from downtown office buildings on a weekday could have predicted that smokers would flee to Maryland and Virginia. And according to a report released Wednesday by Gandhi, that’s exactly what happened after the D.C. Council raised taxes on cigarettes from $2.00 to $2.50 a pack in mid 2009.
In a report addressed to D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray and Mayor Adrian Fenty, Gandhi wrote, “The 50-cent increase in the cigarette tax rate was projected to increase revenue but also decrease volume. Collections year-to-date point to a more severe drop in volume than projected.”
How severe?
“The estimate for cigarette tax revenue is revised downwards by $15.4 million in [fiscal year] 2010 and $15.2 million in [fiscal year] 2011.”
Assistant City Attorney Theresa James said the city's smoking ordinance was not drafted to prohibit the use of electronic cigarettes. But she said even though e-cigarettes are not in violation, that does not prevent a business owner from prohibiting them.
"The smoking ordinance indicates that an object has to be lit, and if there is no flame then it is not in violation of the smoking ordinance," James said.
Smoking Everywhere, an importer of electronic cigarettes, sued the FDA last year after the agency blocked two shipments at Los Angeles International Airport amid claims that the cigarettes contain dangerous chemicals.
The International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association has come out in support of proposed Washington D. C. Council legislation to reduce under-aged smoking and against the same piece of legislation that would impact smokers' rights outside businesses, according to Chris McCalla, legislative director of IPCPR. The proposal would assess new penalties on under-aged youth for purchasing or possessing tobacco products. At the same time, the bill allows shop owners to post no-smoking signs in front of their establishments to include 25 feet of their front door or from the sidewalk.
The D.C. Council has given initial approval to a bill that would allow store owners to ban smoking up to 25 feet away from their business.
A D.C. Council bill that would allow D.C. business owners to ban smoking on the sidewalks outside their establishments moved forward with initial approval from the council earlier this month.
The smoking ban, introduced by D.C. Councilmember Phil Mendelson, D-At Large, would allow stores and businesses to post no smoking signs up to 25 feet away from their business.
The full council will most likely vote on the bill "sometime early [this] year," according to a Washington Post report.
University spokeswoman Michelle Sherrard said the University will respond to and comply with the bill