Mike Pence once wrote that ‘smoking doesn’t kill’

Now that Donald Trump has chosen Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his VP, the deep dive into Mr. Pence’s positions and governorship has begun. One area to look into — aside from his record on abortion, LGBT issues, and the economy — is tobacco. Yes, you read that right.

Research by the CDC from 2014 found that Indiana’s adult smoking rates were the highest of any Midwestern state; of those who responded in a 2014 Gallup poll, almost 25 percent of Indiana citizens said they smoke. To understand these numbers, we have to go back to Mike Pence’s U.S. House campaign in 2000.

On his Congressional website, Pence wrote an op-ed titled “The Great American Smoke Out”, which touches on then-debated tobacco legislation and disregards scientific research:

We will hear about the scourge of tobacco and the resultant premature deaths. We will hear about how this phalanx of government elates has suddenly grown a conscience after decades of subsidizing the product which, we are now told, “kills millions of Americans each year”.

Here’s two things you need to know, Mike: a) the Surgeon General linked smoking to heart disease and lung cancer in 1964, almost 40 years before your shitty op-ed; and b) the most recent estimates had smoking being responsible for 480,000 deaths per year. But don’t let the facts get in the way of your narrative.

Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn’t kill. In fact, two out of every three smokers does not die from a smoking related illness and 9 out of ten smokers do not contract lung cancer.

So you’re admitting that smoking kills some people? And if you’re gonna use numbers, at least cite your sources.

Even a conservative like me would support government big enough to protect us from foreign threats and threats to our domestic tranquility but the tobacco deal goes to the next level.  Government big enough to protect us from our own stubborn wills.

DON’T GET BETWEEN ME AND MY TWINKIES, OBAMA!

And a government of such plenary power, once conceived will hardly stop at tobacco…How about the role of caffeine in fomenting greater stress in the lives of working Americans? Don’t get me started about the dangers of sports utility vehicles!

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

Those of you who find the tobacco deal acceptable should be warned as you sit, reading this magazine, sipping a cup of hot coffee with a hamburger on your mind for lunch. A government big enough to go after smokers is big enough to go after you.

I had Honey Nut Cheerios on my mind for lunch. You know why? Because I was too busy reading this god awful mess.

*****

You might think that Mike Pence is woefully ignorant and therefore a perfect fit as Trump’s running mate. (This is possible.) But there’s something more insidious about his pro-tobacco stance. An overview of Pence’s campaign contributions shows an alliance with big tobacco players such as Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds. One of Pence’s biggest supporters has been the National Association of Convenience Stores, an industry where tobacco accounts for 38 percent of sales.

The influence of these groups has carried over into Pence’s time in Congress and as Governor of Indiana: voting against bipartisan measures, refusing to raise the cigarette tax, and legalizing the opening of cigar bars.

If Mike Pence had disclosed in his op-ed that he was a stooge for the tobacco industry, I would’ve gained (a little) respect for him. But the fact that he took money from the industry while fear-mongering about big government coming in the way of your cigarettes is simply gross.

And look: I get the argument that smoking tobacco is a personal choice. No one is making you smoke a cigarette. The issue, though, is that educating people on the long-term effects of tobacco use is crucial, as long as effort is put into it. Smoking-related deaths are preventable, as long as research is a priority. But Mike Pence chose not to focus on any of those things, and instead followed the money trail. It’s no wonder he’s Donald Trump’s VP.