House Minority Leader John Boehner is closely connected to tobacco industry. He receives a significant support and money from it, and he also smokes a lot of cigarettes. But if putting the political aspect aside, Boehner made clear one thing and namely that he is not ready to stop smoking.

At one of the newsmaker shows, Bob Schieffer, host of CBS “Face the Nation”, asked Boehner about his habit and if he, being a national leader, would give it up , thus showing a good example for the country.

“I understand that it is a bad habit and it affects my health, but I am not ready to stop smoking,” Boehner stated.

Schieffer recognized he was not an unbiased questioner on this subject, having developed bladder cancer seven years ago. He stated that he developed this awful disease due to smoking. “I began chewing tobacco at 16 because I participated at rodeo competitions and played baseball. But now thankfully I am cancer free.”

Boehner is a heavy smoker (according to The Hill newspaper his favorite brand is Camel Silver), and probably one of the cruelest prohibit he suffered was implemented by the Speaker Nancy Pelsoi and which came in 2007 when she banned smoking in the Speaker’s Lobby, an area right off the House floor.

Schieffer also asked Boehner how he squared taking money from the tobacco lobby knowing the health hazards posed by cigarettes and the 435,000 deaths a year related to it.

“Tobacco is a legal product in America. American people have the right to decide whether they take part or not. There many things that we deal with during every day, from food to alcohol to cigarettes, a lot of things that are not good for our health. But American people should have the right to make those decisions on their own,” Boehner declared.

“You want to say that they have the right to shoot themselves, if they want it, but shouldn’t we do something in order to help them no to do it? Do you think that it is a good example?” Schieffer opposed.

“Well, I wish I didn’t have this habit, a habit that is not good at all, even you have had it and you dealt with it, but this is something I have chose to do, and maybe sometime I will decide that I have to stop with this,” Boehner responded.

“If you should become speaker, you might set a good example for the country by saying for example ‘I am going to stop smoking.’ Maybe you could get the president. Don’t you think that it would be a good idea?” Schieffer proposed.

Boehner said he appreciated the advice.

By Sara Norton, Staff Writer. Copyright © 2010 Cigarette-Store.org. All rights reserved.