Smoking ban proposal upsets cigar bar owners

OWNERS OF CIGAR BARS AND SMOKE SHOPS IN ALBUQUERQUE ARE FUMING OVER HOW A CITY COUNCILOR WAN...  More »

OWNERS OF CIGAR BARS AND SMOKE SHOPS IN ALBUQUERQUE ARE FUMING OVER HOW A CITY COUNCILOR WANTS TO CHANGE THE CITY'S SMOKING BAN. THE PROPOSED CHANGES WOULD NO LONGER ALLOW SMOKERS TO LIGHT UP IN EITHER TYPE OF BUSINESS. OUR ERIC KAHNERT GOT BOTH SIDES OF THE SMOKIN' CONTROVERSY. LARRY MONTE IS A CIGAR SMOKIN' MAN. HE'S OWNED MONTE'S NEAR LOUISIANA AND MENAUL FOR 35 YEARS ... AND RECENTLY OPENED THE ALBUQUERQUE CIGAR CLUB IN THE SAME STRIP MALL. HE'S FUMING OVER CITY COUNCILOR MICHAEL CADIGAN'S RECENT PROPOSAL -- TO MAKE IT ILLEGAL FOR CUSTOMERS TO LIGHT UP INSIDE SHOPS LIKE MONTE'S. 14:59 'why does the city government think they need to save us from ourselves?-3' 4:37 'he could set up an outdoor smoking patio just like the bars and restaurants have done to comply with the D Johnson act.-5' THAT'S THE STATE LAW CADIGAN WANTS THE CITY TO BE ON TRACK WITH. BUT HE ALSO WANTS SOME CONTROVERSIAL ADDITIONS -- INCLUDING NO SMOKING INSIDE CIGAR BARS AND SMOKE SHOPS. MONTE SAYS IF SMOKERS CAN'T PUFF AWAY INSIDE HIS PLACE ... HE'LL LOSE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN BUSINESS A YEAR. 13:29 'there's a reason why we do it inside, we don't want to offend anybody, we take all that into consideration.' 6:07 'i just don't see that people are going to stop buying cigarettes because they can't smoke them inside of Monte's store.-4'AS FOR THE ALBUQUERQUE CIGAR CLUB ... THE FIRE MARSHAL TONIGHT TOLD US EVEN IF CADIGAN'S BILL PASSES ... IT WOULD BE SPARED BECAUSE IT'S CONSIDERED A PRIVATE CLUB. CADIGAN IS SKEPTICAL OF THAT. 8:36 'that may be stretch, you have to be some sort of a fraternal organization with a legitimate membership in order to qualify.-8' IT COSTS 45 BUCKS A MONTH TO BELONG TO THE CIGAR CLUB. AND MEMBERS NEED TO HAVE A KEY TO GET IN. 14:04 'it is a private club, we set it up as a private club, we complied with all those things.-6'EKEYWN4. THE CITY COUNCIL COULD VOTE ON CADIGAN'S PROPOSED CHANGES BY THE END OF THE MONTH.  « Less