About

Louisiana for Fair Tobacco Reform is a coalition of both smoking and non-smoking citizens that are opposed to the systematic banning of smoking. We are voters and taxpayers who don’t want government intruding into every aspect of our lives. We recognize that we have a choice, and that these bans seek to remove that freedom. We know these bans represent losses of individual freedoms that we as citizens are currently afforded, freedoms we will lose if no one voices their dissent.

This type of legislation is not only relegated to smoking. Yes, today it is smoking, but what will tomorrow’s issue be? This sort of control has not been attempted since Prohibition, which was of course repealed after only a few years. If we as citizens continue to allow this sort of regulation, our complacency will set a nasty precedent, one that will lead to further government control of our lives.

We cannot afford to surrender these hard-earned freedoms to apathy.

Historically, the next step for these bans will be to outlaw smoking in cigar shops. From there, they will attempt to legislate where individuals OF LEGAL AGE TO PURCHASE AND SMOKE CIGARETTES OR CIGARS can smoke OUTDOORS. Again, there is already a precedent for this. In certain cities, such as New York and San Francisco, one cannot smoke within a certain yardage of the entrance to a building. In parts of Minnesota and California, one cannot even smoke in public parks.

Who knows where they will go from there?

There is already an attempt to extend this sort of legislation to casinos. What businesses will come under fire next? Smokes shops? Cigar shops? Gas stations that vend certain brands or amounts of cigarettes? We at Fair Tobacco Reform do not want to find out.

These bans are scattershot, biased against legally operating business who want to cater to consumers of a legally vended product, unconstitutional, and spurious. Working in a bar or restaurant with smoking is a choice, just as patronizing these establishments or purchasing tobacco is a choice. Every individual is aware of the consequences of these actions. To insist upon this sort of regulation is a violation of every American citizen’s right to the pursuit of happiness, not to mention insulting. It is insulting for the Federal or State governments to assume that we, as an informed citizens, are not capable of making this choice. We want to remind them, and you, that we are.

Louisiana for Fair Tobacco Reform wants just that: fairness. We are asking for equality in the laws being passed. The current legislation is targeting a MINORITY of American citizens, and this minority’s rights are being infringed upon in the same way that all minorities’ rights have historically been, without thought, without care, without trepidation, and without warrant. Fairness in smoking reform means that there are both jobs available within businesses that cater to smokers and those that do not. Anything less is prejudicial.

Help us protect your freedoms. Who knows which ones these legislators will attempt to take away next? Let us unite and show them that this cannot stand. Let our voices be heard.

We are Louisiana for Fair Tobacco Reform.

Business Members:

Birdies Cigar Bar Prairieville, LA

Dos Jefes Uptown Cigar Bar

Hookah Cafe

Attiki Bar & Grill

Havana Dreams Cigars