Why NJ's anti-smoking lawmaker is leading the effort to open cigar lounges

Publication Date: 2016-09-09

• Author:Dino Flammia
• Publication:New Jersey 101.5 FM Radio

It's been banned for 10 years in New Jersey, but the creation of new cigar lounges received the green light from an Assembly panel on Thursday.

The lounges would be expected to follow strict guidelines and they'd only be permitted in municipalities that choose to adopt an ordinance.

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, a primary sponsor of the measure, said his effort is geared toward a unique subset of the population that enjoys smoking cigars and doesn’t mind coming into contact with the smoke.

He describes himself as "anti-smoking." He was a sponsor of the New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act that prohibited smoking in public places and workplaces and went into effect in 2006, blocking the establishment of new cigar lounges...