# Just how illegal are Cuban cigars in the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193 "2004-07-21T16:02:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/1 "2004-07-21T16:02:08Z")
Let’s say I bought a box of them in Canada and attempted to bring them in the US? Would they be seized? What about if a police officer familiar with the law saw me smoking one? Would I be arrested? Or is it just illegal to sell them here, but not a problem smoking them? ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/2 "2004-07-21T16:12:22Z")
Can’t answer that directly, but U.S Customs law will only allow you duty-free exemptions on Cuban cigars if bought in Cuba. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/3 "2004-07-21T16:24:52Z")
> [@Jackknifed Juggernaut](#): > > What about if a police officer familiar with the law saw me smoking one? Well, I doubt your average police officer could tell by sight that your hypothetical cigar is Cuban. Possibly not even if he saw it still packaged. Almost certainly not if he happened to walk past you while you were smoking it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/4 "2004-07-21T16:26:59Z")
Oh, I just want to point out that I’m in no way advocating the use of products restricted in the US. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/5 "2004-07-21T16:29:23Z")
According to the [U.S. Customs](http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/alerts/cuban_cigars.xml) , you may not do so. > [@](#): > > Only persons returning from Cuba after a licensed visit there are permitted to bring Cuban cigars into the United States, provided the value of such cigars does not exceed $100 US dollars and the cigars are for that individual’s personal use and not for resale. All other importations of Cuban cigars are illegal. All offers to buy or sell such cigars in the United States involve cigars that were imported illegally. Contrary to what many people may believe, it is illegal for travelers to bring into the United States Cuban cigars acquired in third countries (such as Canada, England, or Mexico). ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/6 "2004-07-21T16:35:18Z")
I came into the US from Canada with a box of Cubans. They were not listed on my Customs declaration and they were found during a search. The Customs officer was quite nice about the whole thing. He told me that he would allow me to add them to the declaration so I wouldn’t be refused entry. I still wasn’t allowed to bring the cigars in, but I wasn’t going to be fined either. I was able to leave the cigars at the airport, and a friend went and picked them up. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/7 "2004-07-21T16:41:08Z")
Funny this subject just came up with **Norwegian Blue** and me. We were discussing whether possession is actually illegal in the U.S. If a friend gave you an authentic Cuban, is it illegal to possess it assuming it was correctly identified as a Cuban (the possessor having had no idea how it came into the country)? Granted, the U.S. Customs excerpt above does specifically mention \*personal \* use, but I don’t typically see customs inspectors roaming around the neighborhood. Is this something the police can/do enforce? Traffic Cop, pulling over cigar aficionado: I see here you’ve got a Cuban cigar in your ashtray. CA: Yeah, it’s a Cohiba. It was a gift from a friend. TC: You do know you can’t import those. Where did your friend get it? CA: Dunno. TC: Those are illegal. CA: Not according to Customs. \ TC: Can you prove this? CA: Nope. Can you prove he didn’t obtain it illegally? So what gives? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/8 "2004-07-21T16:46:00Z")
On my visits to Windsor, Ontario, just south of the border from Detroit, Michigan, I am surprised at the number of shops advertising Cuban cigars for sale. I hypothesise that either the people of Windsor smoke a lot of Cuban cigars, or some people from Detroit make frequent vists to Canada with the purpose of importing illegal goods to the US. I also suspect that it’s a bit like those large fireworks shops on Interstate 70 just inside the Indiana borders with Illinois and Ohio, except that you don’t have border guards on the Indiana-Illinois and the Indiana-Ohio boundary line. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/9 "2004-07-21T16:48:41Z")
Actually, there’s a whole mess of Cubans which are entirely legal here- those which were imported _prior_ to the Revolution. There have been, so far, two massive stores of Cuban tobacco discovered in warehouses, one in Jersey, one in Tampa, FL. Cigars rolled from this stuff are legal and are sold in any number of tobacco stores. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/10 "2004-07-21T16:58:54Z")
I was in a cigar shop in Jamaica where one of the sevices offered was cigar band replacement. You would buy a box of cubans. The store owner would then remove each band and replace it with a Jamaican band. Taadaa. I did not do this, but I did buy and smoke a couple cuban cigars. I kept a butt with ring as a souvenir. Remembered about it going through customs. I freaked and blurted out, “Uhoh…I have something illegal in my suitcase.”. I was allowed to keep the butt. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/11 "2004-07-21T17:27:18Z")
> [@Cinnamon Girl](#): > > If a friend gave you an authentic Cuban, is it illegal to possess it assuming it was correctly identified as a Cuban (the possessor having had no idea how it came into the country)? According to BobLibDem’s quote above, it would be illegal for your friend to give it to you (the cigars have to be for his personal use), but it doesn’t say whether or not it would be illegal for you to have it. The law is usually pretty confiscatory in such grey areas, however. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/12 "2004-07-21T17:42:59Z")
> [@Johnny Bravo](#): > > Well, I doubt your average police officer could tell by sight that your hypothetical cigar is Cuban. Possibly not even if he saw it still packaged. Almost certainly not if he happened to walk past you while you were smoking it. It’s funny because the reason that I asked the question is that I saw my neighbor smoking a cigar the other day. He’s a police officer. He asked me if I wanted to join him but I declined. I told him, jokingly, that I only smoked Cubans. He took me seriously and asked if I could obtain some for him. He knows that my wife is from Canada and that I go up there frequently. I told him that I thought it was illegal to bring them here. He apparently had no knowledge of this law, and even told me that his police officer colleagues smoke Cubans “all the time”. Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/13 "2004-07-21T17:53:05Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > According to BobLibDem’s quote above, it would be illegal for your friend to give it to you (the cigars have to be for his personal use)… I don’t believe personal use precludes sharing with a friend. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/14 "2004-07-21T18:36:47Z")
Well, there’s often a big difference between the laws on the books and standard Customs practice. Back when I had in-laws living in Laredo, we used to cross the border to do some shopping all the time, and nobody checked too closely what we were bringing back. It was taken for granted that almost everyone was bringing back some small quantity of liquor, and as long as you acknowledged as much, nobody seemed to care. There were just so MANY people crossing the border each day thaty Customs agensts simply didn’t have time to check out anyone person too closely. Things may well have tightened up since 9/11, but before that? I’m sure I could have bought Cuban cigars in Mexico and brought them over on a regular basis, and nobody would’ve known or cared. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/15 "2004-07-21T18:58:11Z")
Personally, I would not buy a Cuban in Canada and transport it back because it would most likely be relatively old. The reason people buy Cubans is because of their taste and bouquet. The Taste and Bouquet come from several reasons specific to Cuba. Otherwise, people would be wanting more Costa Rican, or Puerto Rican Cigars. The soil the tobacco is grown in is as black as night, and the pure volume of rain the plants get make them extremely rich and spicy with loads of coffee charactor. I have a few Cohiba Robusto from the current crop in Cuba and to be honest, some of them I have smoked are wonderful, others are just very good. Thank you for giving me a reason to break out the cedar chips tonight and light one up after dinner 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/16 "2004-07-21T19:09:52Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > I have a few Cohiba Robusto from the current crop in Cuba and to be honest, some of them I have smoked are wonderful, others are just very good. But are they legal?? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/17 "2004-07-21T19:10:22Z")
While watching _Fahrenheit 911_ I noticed that Prince Bandahar of Saudi Arabia was smoking a Cohiba with GW (not sure if GW was also smoking, although he is said to smoke cigars). I’m guessing that the good Prince did not transit through Cuba and hence was probably in violation of the law. Lucky for him he’s covered by diplomatic immunity. But what’s the difference if the Sultan of Kingston sparked up a huge doobie in the West Wing? Still technically illegal, but just worse publicity? FWIW, I loves me a nice Cohiba whenever the chance affords itself. The only drawback is that it is usually in other countries where the cognac/armangac that I require as accompaniment is quite dear. Maybe I’ll swim down to Cuba some day… ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/18 "2004-07-21T19:22:05Z")
**Phlosphr** , cedar chips? You keep cedar in the humidor? Or, do you light the cigars with a flaming pile of cedar chips? ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/19 "2004-07-21T19:24:35Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > But are they legal?? > 😃 Yes, I didn’t purchase them, and they were cleared by US and Cuban customs 🙂 So many people think you can’t posess a cuban Cigar in the US. If you buy it in Cuba, you can bring it back with you…but that is for a few cigars per individual. Not a hundred pounds of them 🙂 As for Prince Bandahar, are Cubans illegal in Saudi as well? I thought just the US. I’m probably wrong. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193/20 "2004-07-21T19:31:41Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > As for Prince Bandahar, are Cubans illegal in Saudi as well? I thought just the US. I’m probably wrong. I was following the rules above where it was only legal to import directly from Cuba for personal use. Cubans cigars are, AFAIK, legal in Saudi and just about everywhere _except_ for the United States. Not that I recall every seeing a tobacconist in the Kingdom. You really should try smoking _sheesha_ sometime, I find it very relaxing. But I digress. As to **Uncommon Sense** ’s question, cedar chips are roughly the size of a popsicle stick and are used for lighting good cigars. You get a big enough flame, but the heat is not to strong so that it would ruin the cigar. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-illegal-are-cuban-cigars-in-the-us/256193.md?page=2)