John Thune: “Tobacco is an important issue, and it is something that we are going to pass legislation which prevents teens from…”

“Tobacco is an important issue, and it is something that we are going to pass legislation which prevents teens from starting smoking. But the issue, the reason that they are talking about at the White House the tobacco issue not the drug issue is because it is a money issue. It is all about money. It is about bringing more money in here to create new government, Washington-based spending programs. That is what the issue is. And if the objective ultimately is to help young people, to get them to stop smoking, to get them to stop quit using drugs, that is exactly the wrong message to send. We do not want to hand them free needles.”