by Mark Silva
It's been said -- though we'd never suggest such a thing -- that the debate on Capitol Hill sometimes begs the question of what these guys are smoking.
This morning, the answer appears to be lettuce.
The House, debating a tobacco-regulation bill that the Senate has adopted, is poised to give the government the power to regulate tobacco like the drug that it is. President Barack Obama is ready to sign it into law.
But Rep. Steve Buyer, a Republican from Indiana, told his colleagues on the floor this morning that it's not tobacco which is to blame for millions of Americans dying, but rather the smoke they inhale at the filter end of their smokes. (See the argument above, courtesy of C-SPAN.)
""Too often we should be careful about being cute here on the House floor,'' Byyer said today. "So cute means the reference with regard to lettuce. So I'll follow your logic.
"Do you realize if you were to take that lettuce, dry it, and roll it, and smoke it. And you go ahead and you smoke your lettuce. Do you realize that you are going to end up with similar problems than if you were smoking tobaccco. It's not the nicotine that kills. It's the smoke that kills. So It's the inhalation of the smoke.
:That's what causes and is responsible for the pandemic of cancers, of heart disease, respiratory disease, and other disease. It's the smoke."
Comments
His argument is similar to the argument that guns don't kill people, people kill people. The smoke kills, and the nicotine makes you keep coming back for more.
Posted by: Grandblvd03 | June 12, 2009 11:59 AM
Does chewing lettuce give me cancer of the gum and cheek?
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/tobacco/smokeless
Posted by: Tobacco Kills | June 12, 2009 12:15 PM
Will this lettuce impact smoking bans in his state?
Posted by: No Lettuce Left Behind | June 12, 2009 12:37 PM
Don;t let Limbaugh hear this argument...
http://www.political-buzz.com/
Posted by: matt | June 12, 2009 12:52 PM
Wow, you mean it's the smoke that's killing people? You can't say Repubs don't state the obvious! He must be in the pocket of the tobacco lobby. I didn't know they grew tobacco in Indiana. I thought it was a Carolinas thing. But one has to say, "DUH!" No s**t it's the smoke. People aren't eating tobacco and getting cancer, you moron. What's next, a newsflash that grass is green and sky blue?
Posted by: Nancy | June 12, 2009 12:52 PM
So some idiot Republican from Indiana now suggests that we smoke lettuce instead? What a douchebag!
Cigarettes are nothing more than a nicotine delivery system, as one tobacco company executive said years ago. Nicotine is a poison, whether you inhale it directly from the burning cigarette or inhale it as smoke you get downwind from a smoker as you take a breathe of polluted air.
Posted by: BC | June 12, 2009 1:21 PM
“His argument is similar to the argument that guns don't kill people, people kill people. The smoke kills, and the nicotine makes you keep coming back for more.”
.
Posted by: Grandblvd03 | June 12, 2009 11:59 AM
.
No, if his argument was as you represent it to be, it would be valid. Guns don’t kill people. They are lifeless machines without the power to kill. It takes some human agency to load them, cock them and pull the trigger.
.
Instead, his argument is like the saying, “A snake in the grass isn’t dangerous because grass is harmless.” He is suggesting that the danger from tobacco comes from smoking, and smoking only. That is the false part. People who chew tobacco have also been known to develop mouth cancer - because tobacco contains carcinogens. And, yes, people who chew tobacco are addicted to the nicotine too. Thus, the danger is not simply in smoking, although smoking is one of the ways that people are endangered by tobacco.
Posted by: John W. | June 12, 2009 2:27 PM
People aren't eating tobacco and getting cancer, you moron. What's next, a newsflash that grass is green and sky blue?
Posted by: Nancy | June 12, 2009 12:52 PM
Not exactly correct Nancy.....Ever hear of Chaw? Another " Carolina " thing enjoyed all over the US. But don't worry..I won't call you a moron...............and yes the grass is green and the sky is blue.
Posted by: bill r. | June 12, 2009 4:52 PM
Steve Buyer is the recipient of the largest amount of tobacco money of any Congressman in the history of Indiana. He is especially favored by Smokeless Tobacco PACs. He is nothing but a spokesperson for his corporate donors. He's the same guy who said we should use nuclear weapons in Afghanistan and who lied to Congress that he had been called to active duty in Iraq and then took a 3 week leave of absence at his home.
Posted by: Indiana | June 12, 2009 8:04 PM
Do I hear another new leader of the Grand Olde Donner Party!?
He's marching right along with Jindal, Palin, JtP, Beck (sound of sobbing) and the newest idiot on the national stage, Ziegler.
Brilliant logic, Steve!
Posted by: C.Morris✧ | June 12, 2009 9:20 PM
The more produce we come across, the more problems we see.
Posted by: Natalie Hilgard | July 12, 2009 4:50 PM
YES. Natalie for the win.
God Bless America!
Posted by: Katie Coo Baby Boo | August 5, 2009 8:07 AM