Windsor Star (Ontario)
July 6, 2004 Tuesday Final Edition

Cigars in demand

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s
personal label cigars have become a coveted currency at the state
Capitol.

California political insiders who’ve received a stogie straight from
Schwarzenegger or lifted handfuls from his open humidor save the
cigars as keepsakes or pass them on to friends.

“It’s not a status thing,” Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian told The
Record newspaper in Stockton, Calif., last week. “It’s more like you
know when someone’s been to the governor’s office when they have a
cigar in their hand.”

Aghazarian, who doesn’t smoke because of asthma, said the cigars have
helped him break the ice with constituents.

GRAPHIC: Colour Photo: Arnold Schwarzenegger