House (DEL) passes limits on tongue splitting

[andyjackson1828]

In between giggles Tuesday, the House of Representatives approved a bill to limit the latest fad in "body modification" called tongue splitting.

The bill, which now moves to the Senate, would make it illegal for anyone other than a doctor or a dentist to perform the procedure that involves splitting the tongue down the middle to give a lizard-like appearance. Violators could face up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine, if the measure becomes law.

Rep. John F. Van Sant, D- Woodcrest, who sponsored the measure, said he has never seen anyone who had their tongue split, nor does he know of medical difficulties associated with the procedure. But he said he wanted to stop it before it caught on in Delaware.

"This is irreversible," he said.

The rest at...

http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/06/16housepasseslimi.html

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. Slightly off topic

Do the two sides of the tongue work independently when split? Just asking :evilgrin:

[BlueEyedSon]

2. reportedly yes

[THUNDER HANDS]

3. ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

6. Close your eyes and it doesn't seem so bad now, does it?

(ok I'll stop before I turn this into a "lounge thread")

[THUNDER HANDS]

8. i could never deal with that

I'd feel like I should be feeding baby mice to my girlfriend if she ever did that.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

9. Oh I couldn't either

it's a little too much *freak* for me.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

15. Remember we're talking about teenagers.

There's no such thing as "ewwwwwwwwww" for them, with a few rare exceptions.

[0007]

12. Wow!!

Why would anyone want their tongue split? Better speech, give better head, enjoy two kinds of food at the same time? I don't get it!

I must be turning square.

[prodigal_green]

4. Keep Your Laws off Our Jaws!

or something like that for the protests.

I must be getting old, but that practice seems a tad gruesome...I guess that is the point though.

[LynneSin]

5. Only in Delaware

Personally, I can't see why anyone would want to do that to their tongue. But then again I can't figure out why anyone wants to stick a steal pin through their penis

:shrug:

I'm more old fashioned than I think

[sniffa]

7. deLaware

aLso outLawed any "sporting event" where the outcome is predertimened in an effort to ban professionaL wrestLing from the state. too many of those bLood thirsty phiLLy wrassLin fans were crossing the border.

phiLLy does have the best wrassLin base.

[LynneSin]

10. Hey, but our booze and cigerettes are dirt cheap

cheapest in the area.

We have our priorities straight!

[Mr.Green93]

18. ECW

[sniffa]

22. ECW! ECW! ECW!

damn, i miss them. :(

[Mr.Green93]

23. Same here.

They put on a good show.

[sniffa]

24. are you a coLLector of their oLd tapes?

there are some matches i'd Love to see (that i've onLy read about) Like aLmost any cactus jack match.... or how 'bout the "mass transit incident". i've seen a vid of the end of that match but it wouLd be nice to see the whoLe match incLuding the insane "bLading".

[SheepyMcSheepster]

25. ECW! ECW! ECW! i miss them as well.

[DS1]

14. Hey, it would be better than sticking your penis through a steel pin

...you'd have to have a really small dick :shrug:

[soup]

28. Illinois, too.

From 05/15/2003
>snip<
Some say the practice, still relatively uncommon but edging up in popularity, is nothing short of mutilation. Lawmakers in Illinois are considering regulations that would all but outlaw it.

And earlier this year, several branches of the armed services banned tongue-splitting. Officials at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina say one airman had the tissue in his split tongue reopened and sewn back together in February to avoid being kicked out of the service.

The bill passed nearly unanimously in the Illinois House and is awaiting a vote in the Senate.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20030514-101121-5301r


Who knew this was an issue? :shrug: weird.

[Trillo]

11. Them darned tongue splitters . . . must be makin' too much money.

Who does this hurt? The person having their tongue split? The person performing the procedure? Are any third parties physically affected by it? How is it different from piercing an ear to hang metal and stone from?

Is this financially hurting anyone? Does it threaten to hurt any group by being the first step towards something?

I guess I really just don't get why this is worthy of state control. Seems like it's more meddling in personal affairs than much else. I do wonder if the intent is to limit tongue splitting in general, or to divert the procedure and financial benefits therefrom to those groups normally associated with surgery. Is this essentially an anti-competitive legislative act to increase the fees charged for it and accomplish both financial diversion to favored groups and reduce the total number of procedures performed by increasing the cost?

[Unperson 309]

19. Who Does This Hurt?

I'll tell you. First, let me say I have *NO* objection to tongue splitting. I've sen it done and have friends who have had it done. I have no esthetic objections to it whatsoever... even though it's not something I'd choose.

As to how harmful it is... From the outer corners of your upper lip to a poing at the brdige of your nose is an area where just about every blood vessel there goes directly back into the brain. This is one reason dentists will *not* work on your teeth of you have an abscess still in active mode. They'll give you antibiotics first *then* treat you. A zit in this area, a tongue piercing, tongue splitting, nose ring, cut, infection... can lead to infection travelling back *into* the brain. A nose or tongue pierce makes two small holes and a channel. Rather susceptible to infection. A tongue *split* OTOH, creates two long gash edges in the oral cavity (very bacteria prone!), Extremely susceptible to infection.

If a doctor does the splitting, he or she can either cauterize or stitch or even glue the open edges. If an anateur does it, there are no such safeguards as stwerile field technique etc. Bad idea.

So yeah, I'd agree with that law. If someone wants to split their tongue, have at it... but have a DOCTOR or other well trained professional do it.

309

[Occulus]

21. so propose a license for this procedure alone

sheesh, what a simple solution.

[demnan]

13. He must have been afraid

one of his kids was going to do it.

[Solly Mack]

16. Reminds me of the show V

[David__77]

17. Oh jeez, that one was bad.

I liked it when it was on as a small child though... Why the splitting? I just don't get it.

[Khephra]

20. Oh, this is nothing

Now silicon gonad enlargement, that's something else...

(Yes, I'm serious. I tried to find my old pictures of the treatment, but I guess I erased it. Evidently it's a the newest "big" thing in the gay community. The sick thing is (imo) that they don't just enlarge the balls a bit, but more or less to the size of apples. I can't imagine how you would walk after an enlargement.)

[soup]

26. Personally, I think the government should worry less about

tongue-splitting and worry more about speaking with forked tongues.

[neverborn]

27. Happened in IL too last year.

[John_H]

29. You can't legislate stupidity, so why try?

[Sabriel]

30. Whoopsie, wrong headline

For a second there, I thought it said "tongue SPITting." My first thought was, "Wow, they're really going after personal liberties now. What's left...nose spitting?"

Anyway, wasn't there a legislator down south who tried to do away with clothing that showed butt cracks? I thought I saw that on The Daily Show a few weeks ago. What's up with these people? Weren't they EVER young? I was once... a long time ago.

Sabriel

[geniph]

31. I'm so glad our ever-watchful government is protecting us

from doing what we wish with our own goddamned bodies, aren't you?

I fail to see how any body modification chosen freely by an adult person is ANYONE else's business, ever.