Cigar-Loving Cities in a Smoke-Banning World By Garson Smart At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

However others may feel about them, there's no doubt that public-smoking bans, and other restrictions on tobacco use, leave cigar aficionados burning up. Anyone who reads cigar magazines, for example, will know that - however politically unpredictable they may be in other areas - this is one legislative trend all those magazines' writers seem to agree on.

In any case, whether one agrees with such laws or not, it's important for those who love their smokes to know where those smokes can be enjoyed most easily, with the least amount of furtive hiding, planning ahead, and general difficulty possible. So for those who are about to smoke - or move house - here's some information that may be pertinent indeed.

For its tough, if convoluted, anti-smoking laws, Chicago seems to be on many smokers' least-favorite-cities list. Whatever its other amenities, this is one city where you'd better be sure an indoor or outdoor area is legal for smokers before lighting up. Seattle, another well-regarded city (loved for its temperate-if-rainy weather, its culture, and its relatively liberal law enforcement ethos, among other things), is also one of the few places that not only bans smoking in public places, but allows no exemptions for cigar bars. That's discouraging news for those of you hoping to have a good cigar along with your cappuccino in this rain-soaked city.

Likewise, any dedicated smoker who visits New York City may want to remember to stock up on stogies first. The Big Apple, despite its many charms (and its mammoth cultural importance), imposes a mountainously-steep tax on tobacco products, in addition to a bar-and-restaurant smoking ban in force since 2003. Since the New York police are known for following "broken windows" theory - they keep a close watch on "small" infractions of the law as well as big crimes - don't expect to get away with lighting up, even in a small restaurant.

Texas is, in general, by contrast, one of the freest states in the country for those who like to smoke outside, even allowing smoking in designated areas at some airports - but that approach doesn't extend as far as border city El Paso, a lovely city to visit, but one with a smoking ban and high excise tax.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, what cities do go out of their way to make things easier for smokers? Well, there's always Las Vegas, or, if you want to stay out of the desert (but also out of the cold), Miami, a city with few restrictions on smoking.

Unsurprisingly, Kentucky (where tobacco farming is an economic mainstay) maintains a relatively smoke-positive approach. Cities like Louisville and Jackson, which benefit from the state's low taxes on tobacco products, might make good destinations for traveling cigar lovers hoping to sample the culture of this fascinating state, which offers a host of spectacular views, a uniquely neither-southern-nor-midwestern culture, and radio stations that actually play authentic hardcore bluegrass. But you won't be able to light up in restaurants - at least not in Louisville, which recently passed the first restaurant-and-bar smoking ban to clear a major Kentucky city legislature. A few states away, consider Jacksonville, Tennessee, another slow-to-regulate Southern city.

Portland, a hipster mecca, has (unlike other hipster meccas such as Boulder and Seattle) resisted the impulse to closely monitor smoking.

At the statewide level, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, North and South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia tend to have the most permissive smoking laws (which doesn't mean they're invulnerable to smoking bans passed at the local, citywide level). It's a good bet that fascinating, history-rich cities like Richmond, Durham, Charleston, Columbia (SC), Kansas City, and Mobile will be among the last places on the American map to initiate anti-smoking laws. After all, tobacco plays an important role in the history and development of many of these states' economies - something that can't be said of most Northeast states, with the exception of Connecticut.

Somewhat less permissive, but still good bets for a vacationing outdoor smoker, are the Midwestern states of Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, and Kansas.

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