San Francisco Ban Targets Tobacconist
Tobacco shops have long been the sanctuary for cigar lovers in smoke-adverse California, but recently San Francisco retailers have smoking ban advocates knocking at the door.
A legislative measure sponsored by Board of Supervisors member Chris Daly seeks to extend indoor smoking regulations, which have been in place statewide since 1998, that outlaw lighting up inside most public spaces, including restaurants and bars. The proposal would define secondhand smoke as a public nuisance and prohibit indoor smoking in a number of additional spaces including tobacco shops and owner-operated bars, which have always been exempted.
The measure has been assigned to the City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee under a 30-day rule, which means it must be reviewed and voted on by May 1 to go back before the legislature.
For more on this story, see the issue of Cigar Insider.
Click here to read about one San Francisco cigar bar that beat the statewide ban.
