CRA Action Alert
I received the following information from a Cigar Rights of America Action Alert email:
Effective January 1, 2010, the use of tobacco products (including: cigars, pipes, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, snuff, snus, and hookahs) on all county owned and leased land was outlawed through an order signed by Orange County's Mayor Richard T. Crotty as he and a coalition of anti-tobacco supporters work to make the entire county tobacco-free.
This OUTDOOR ban comes on the heels of Florida's statewide existing indoor smoking ban which is already in affect.
Several major cities, including Orlando, reside in Orange County and the local economy heavily relies on tourism.
The ordinance now outlaws the use of any tobacco product in areas such as outdoors at the Orange County Convention Center, County parks, fishing docks, boat ramps, outdoor trails, county owned parking lots, streets and sidewalks.
Additionally, in order to maintain employment, County employees are required to sign an affidavit which states that any employee who enjoys more than four cigars per year they will be fined $650 each year they violate the tobacco policy.
On March 19, 2010, Mayor Crotty's anti-tobacco campaign received a boost when the Orange County Health Department (OCHD) was awarded a grant of 6.6 million dollars for tobacco prevention and control. This grant award is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative.
The HHS' initiative is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. A direct response to the economic crisis, the Recovery Act has three immediate goals:
- Create new jobs and save existing ones
- Spur economic activity and invest in long-term growth
- Foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending
Here is a Copy of the Ordinance.
CRA is urging members in Florida and across the country to take action by contacting Mayor Richard T. Crotty and the county commissioners to express your opposition to this tobacco policy and your support of seeing the ordinance reversed.
Remember to tell these lawmakers that "enjoying a cigar is not a crime!"
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Email: Mayor Crotty |
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Email: Commissioner Boyd |
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Email: Commissioner Brummer |
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Email: Commissioner Stewart |
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Email: District5@ocfl.net |
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Email: Commissioner Moore Russell |
The Tampa Bay area Cigar Rights of America Ambassadors are:
Michael McCarthy, Palm Harbor, Florida, CRA Ambassador 0031 email address
Jaime Liebes, New Port Richey, Florida, CRA Ambassador 0050 email address
Larry Green, Tampa, Florida, CRA Ambassador 0072 email address
Scott Seddon, Tampa, Florida, CRA Ambassador 0092 email address
For more info: Please visit and JOIN the CIGAR RIGHTS of AMERICA !
Stay up to date with the Tampa Cigar Examiner column. To subscribe via e-mail, please click here. Your email address will always remain secure and confidential.
Comments
Seriously, I can understand this, as they toss their butts all over the place and make a really unsightly mess, plus in nature areas, wildlife ingest the butts and are hurt by them. If you can't do without a cigarette for a couple of hours, you have a serious problem. My ex used to drive me crazy. We'd go to eat and he'd have to have a cigarette before we got in the car, stand outside the restaurant and smoke one before we went inside, and then go out after we ordered and have another. He would leave me inside to pay so he could smoke before we got back in the car to leave, then when we got outside, he would stand outside and smoke, and throw the butts on the ground. When I told him not to throw them on the ground, he started throwing them into the street. It's one reason he's my ex now.
I tried to throw your butt (har har see what I did there, Deb?) to the curb but your stalker ass kept following me home!
Great, more rights being trampled on in the name of the "public good". I hope all these clowns get voted out.
This has to be the dumbest bunch of people on the planet!! I'm glad I live in Las Vegas with Mayor Oscar Goodman! When you ask him what cigars do you smoke? His reply? "Anything Illegal"!
I learned a lot about snus from an article I read online and it convinced me to make the switch from cigarettes. Everything I have been reading shows me that snus is pretty much harmless because of the way its made! I highly recommend giving the article a read if yall are curious about snus. Just google snus authority and you should find it.
I am moved to Norway from the U.S. and have been using the packaged snus for over a year now. It is great and I have had no problems thus far. My dentist says my gums are healthy!
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