CWNews

ChiTown Paper Pans CRA

Cigar makers huff and puff over smoking ban

By H. Lee Murphy
Aug. 18, 2008

Daniel Melko, business manager for a Mercedes-Benz dealership on Chicago's Near North Side, drank cocktails and smoked cigars at Gibsons and Tavern on Rush before the statewide ban on indoor smoking. Now he smokes at his Carol Stream home or on friends' backyard patios.

"I used to go to Gibsons twice a week, but haven't been there since Jan. 1," says Mr. Melko, 45.

Seeking to challenge such legislative bans, Cigar Rights of America, a group of cigar makers and retailers, has organized a nationwide tour, with stops planned Thursday at Up Down Cigar on North Wells in Chicago and 8 to 8 Cigar in west suburban Villa Park. Top cigar makers including Carlito Fuente of the Dominican Republic, Charlie Torano of Honduras and Jorge Padron of Nicaragua will appear.

Nearly 500 supporters, paying $40 apiece, are expected to turn out at each venue. Rick Schweig, 53, a financial planner living in the West Loop, is one: Once a regular at Sullivan's, Carmichael's, the Peninsula and the Ritz-Carlton, he smokes now at a private cigar lounge in the Loop shop Iwan Ries & Co.

"Cigar smoking is a social activity, like tasting wine: It's not the same without bars and nightclubs," a glum Mr. Schweig says.

Cigar Rights of America is raising money to lobby to roll back bans — or at least exempt cigars. "Cigar makers, and retailers, are fighting for their lives," says Diana Silvius, owner of Up Down.

"We won't try to stop the cigar group from speaking their mind," says Joel Africk, president and CEO of the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago. "But we will work very hard to ensure that our workplaces, including restaurants, stay free from second-hand smoke.