Burke Cigar Owner Says FDA Regulations Would Hurt Small Businesses

Shami Walia, owner of , is concerned FDA inclusion of cigars in the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act would hurt small businesses like his.

Reason Magazine reported Walia, who opened his shop four years ago, "doesn't hold out hope that shops like his would survive that level of government control."

"A lot of shops—all small businesses—would just not be able to handle it,” Walia told The Daily Caller. "They’ll probably shut down…You won't be able to keep your doors open."

Bill Spann, CEO of International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers, told The Daily Caller that increased regulation would mean, for example:

• new taxes;
• customers wouldn’t be permitted to touch or smell cigars;
• the sale of new cigar blends would cease until manufacturers submit them to the government for testing and analysis;
• no walk-in humidors and no cigars flavored with cognac or bourbon.

The cigar industry is backing legislation (H.R. 1639 and S.B. 1461) to prevent FDA regulation of "traditional large and premium cigars."