I think I am still missing something - I read the entire final bill as passed, which should include the ammendments, and I still cannot find a reference to cigars. There was an ammendment that read - change the language to include all tobacco as stated in the Jenkins Act section 1. Section 1 of the Jenkins Act is the definitions section. The section dealing with tobacco is one part and reads as follows:
2) The term ''cigarette'' means any roll for smoking made wholly or in part of tobacco, irrespective of size or shape and whether or not such tobacco is flavored, adulterated, or mixed with any other ingredient, the wrapper or cover of which is made of paper or any other substance or material except tobacco.
All that did was change the wording in the final bill. Again, maybe I am missing something. Of course JR's ( I cannot comment on the other companies) is one of, if not the, largest retailer of cigarettes in the country. It would not be out of the realm of possibility for them to be drumming up support among cigar smokers to defeat a cigarette bill. As I read the bill, it would definitely hurt their cigarette sales as well as adding an additional burden of reporting all the sales to each state.
Again, if you can locate the language in the final bill that refers to cigars I would appreciate it. I just want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row before I make any calls.