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Pipe Room A place for the discussion of Pipes and Pipe Tobaccos. |
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12-18-2009, 10:17 AM | #1 |
Member
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Seattle, WA USA
Posts: 777
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Washington State pipe smokers Please Read
Hi. I'm a member of the Seattle Pipe Club and have been organizing
folks and legislators to amend the Washington State law that was passed last session as Senate bill 5340. This law makes it illegal for anyone in the state (even an adult) to receive pipe tobacco by mail, because it makes the shipment of all tobacco illegal — except cigars. We are working very hard to have that law amended to allow the shipment of pipe tobacco. There’s a chance to get this law changed -- if you live in Washington and smoke a pipe, we need your help right now. If you don’t help, it won’t happen. And that’s bad for all of us. I believe that the restriction on pipe tobacco was somewhat unintentional, in that the desire of the people involved was to protect children by making it harder for them to acquire cigarettes, and we're really asking the legislature to correct this error this session. Rep. Dickerson will be introducing a bill to this effect in the House, and Sen. Kohl-Welles will be introducing a similar or identical bill in the Senate. If you are a Washington State pipe smoker, here’s what you do. First, take a look at the talking points here: http://www.bobramstad.com/Pipes/5340SPC.html also talking points in PDF here: http://www.bobramstad.com/Pipes/5340SPC.pdf The general line of discussion runs like this: This bill is needed because of SSB 5340, C 278 L 09 as passed last session. The cigarette delivery sale statute was repealed by the law but in the process included pipe tobacco. It states that a person may not ship tobacco products, other than cigars weighing more than three pounds for 1,000 units, purchased by mail or through the internet to anyone in Washington other than a licensed wholesaler or retailer. This was an unfair law, which went unchallenged due to its obscurity, to pipe smokers. We ask that you support legislation to rectify this problem for pipe smokers and the few remaining Washington tobacco stores who would like to ship to in-state customers. Pick out three or four talking points that you believe are especially relevant, and jot them down. Then, find your state Representatives and your Senator by using the form at this URL. http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/ Telephone your two Representatives asking them to please co-sponsor a bill by Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson allowing our members to order pipe tobacco for delivery to their homes. If you can’t get an answer then, please ask that they or their aides please call back with a yes or no. If they don’t call back in a week, call them again, etc. A copy of the bill draft can be viewed at the URL below and can be sent to your Representative. NEXT, call your Senator and ask if he or she will co-sponsor a bill by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles to allow us to order pipe tobacco for delivery to our homes. If you can’t get an answer then, please ask that the Senator or aides please call back with a yes or no. If they don’t call back in a week, call them again, etc. A copy of the bill draft by Rep. Dickerson can be viewed at the URL below and can be sent to the Senator. We believe the one by Sen. Kohl-Welles will be the same or similar. Draft legislation can be viewed here: http://www.bobramstad.com/Pipes/Amend5340Draft.pdf There's a more detailed background on this here: http://www.bobramstad.com/Pipes/5340.html Email can be effective too, but I would call first, then send a follow up email with an intro like "Hi, I live in your district, and called about this matter, and wanted to follow up via email" which lets them know you're the kind of person that's going to follow up if you don't get a response... Once you've contacted your legislators, PLEASE close the loop by posting on our Google Group * Group name: Washington State Pipe Smokers * Group home page: http://groups.google.com/group/washi...e-pipe-smokers * Group email address washington-state-pipe-smokers@googlegroups.com and letting us know what you've found out! Is your legislator positive, neutral, negative, not responding, hostile, thrilled? Please provide both the name of the legislator, House or Senate (Rep or Sen) and the district number. On behalf of all the pipe smokers in Washington State, thank you! -- Bob |
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