Smoking Ban on the Military???

[cathryn]

Study Recommends Military Smoking Ban

By Chris Lawrence, CNN


WASHINGTON (July 12) -- You've seen the iconic picture of a soldier with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, but that could soon be a thing of the past.

A new study commissioned by the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs recommends a complete ban on tobacco, which would end tobacco sales on military bases and prohibit smoking by anyone in uniform, not even combat troops in the thick of battle.

According to the study, tobacco use impairs military readiness in the short term. Over the long term, it can cause serious health problems, including lung cancer and cardiovascular disease. The study also says smokeless tobacco use can lead to oral and pancreatic cancer.

The Defense Department's top health officials are studying the report's suggestions and will make recommendations to the Pentagon's policy team and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The study recommends phasing out tobacco products such as cigarettes and cigars over a five- to 10-year period.

However, the suggested ban does not sit well with many in uniform, including retired Gen. Russel Honore, best known for coordinating military relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina-affected areas with an ever-present stogie. He said soldiers at war need to puff.

"When you're tired and you've been going days on end with minimum sleep, and you are not getting the proper meals on time, that hit of tobacco can make a difference," said Honore, who was in charge of the Army's training programs before he retired.

Other soldiers questioned whether this was a good time to stamp out smoking, given the Army's concern with a high suicide rate.

"For some, unfortunately, they feel that smoking is their stress relief. Well if you take it away, what is the replacement?" said Sgt. 1st Class Gary Johnson.

The Pentagon supports the goal of a tobacco-free military, said spokeswoman Cynthia Smith.

"However, achieving that goal will depend on coincident reductions of tobacco use in the civilian population," she said.

Dr. Ken Kizer, the author of the study, found that civilians don't smoke as much as soldiers. One in three active duty soldiers smoke, he said, adding that among the general population, that number is less than one in five.

The Pentagon banned smoking in buildings on bases years ago. It has counselors on call to help service members quit. But while local governments have heavily taxed tobacco, the commissaries often sell it at deeply discounted prices.
"The military sends very mixed signals," Kizer said. "This is what's confusing to people."

The study found that profits from those tobacco sales -- $80 million to $90 million -- often pay for recreation and family programs on base.


http://news.aol.com/article/military-smoking-ban-recommendation/567519



they can go risk their life for our country but be told not to smoke a cigarette whil;e theyre doing it?

even the proposal of such a ban is stupid,imo.

[KySongDog]

even the proposal of such a ban is stupid,imo.

Smoking is stupid, IMHO.  Lung cancer and mouth cancer are not pretty things to behold.   

[cathryn]

i dont dispute that.
i smoked for a few years in my younger years and fginally came to my senses.

the point is, those boys and girls are old enough to die for their country theyre old enugh to do it smoking a cigarette,imo.

i would put some kind of restrictions on after dark smoking though.

[Bopeye]

i would put some kind of restrictions on after dark smoking though.

There is already an unspoken ban for combat troops. It's called noise, light and litter discipline. If you light up in the field a sniper can see you from a long ways off taking a puff on the cig. BANG!! You've just been banned from smoking after dark.

[cathryn]

thats exactly what i was thi9nking.

i know a guy who fought in vietnam and he said they took out alot of the enemy by shooting at the ends of the red dots from their enemies.

im glad its already a combat rule, good to see someone had some sense.

[KySongDog]

the point is, those boys and girls are old enough to die for their country theyre old enugh to do it smoking a cigarette,imo.

That's the same argument as a young Marine (when I was 18) we used about drinking.  ......so I can die for my country but I can't drink a beer??  WTF??   

[cathryn]

i know.

i think if theyre old enough to die theyre old enough to drink.

[slagmaker]

Some good points here. I quit smoking and am glad I did. BUT I do not hold it against someone who wants to smoke.

I have to agree with the point of if you are fighting for your country and laying your life on the line I thnk if you want to smoke you should have that right. I dont think you should have your govement telling you how to live your life.

[alscalls]

I guess they are fighting to be FREE in more ways than one.....

[cathryn]

Some good points here. I quit smoking and am glad I did. BUT I do not hold it against someone who wants to smoke.

I have to agree with the point of if you are fighting for your country and laying your life on the line I thnk if you want to smoke you should have that right. I dont think you should have your govement telling you how to live your life.

the soldiers are encouraged to drink on base even now. even if theyre 18 when the legal drnking age is 21.

my nephew says they encourage it on base bnecause they know thyre going to anyway and theyd rather them do it there.

hes in the Air Force.

i think if theyre old enough to die for us theyre old enough to drink and light up a cig if they so chose.

[cathryn]

good news for smokers in the military





Pentagon won't ban war-zone smoking, despite study

WASHINGTON â€" Smoke 'em if you got 'em. The Pentagon reassured troops Wednesday that it won't ban tobacco products in war zones. Defense officials hadn't actually planned to eliminate smoking â€" at least for now. But fear of a ban arose among some troops after the Defense Department received a study recommending the military move toward becoming tobacco-free â€" perhaps in about 20 years.

Press secretary Geoff Morrell pointedly told a Pentagon news conference that Defense Secretary Robert Gates is not planning to prohibit the use of cigarettes, chewing tobacco or other tobacco products by troops in combat.

"He knows that the situation they are confronting is stressful enough as it is," Morrell said, noting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I don't think he is interested in adding to the stress levels by taking away one of the few outlets they may have to relieve stress."

Gates will review the new study to see if there are some things than can be done to work toward the goal of having a smoke-free force some day, Morrell said.

"Obviously, it's not our preference to have a force that is using tobacco products," he said, noting health concerns and the high cost of caring for health-related problems.

The study, commissioned by the Pentagon and the Veterans Affairs Department, recommended that the military start making incremental moves toward becoming smoke-free. The report by the Institute of Medicine suggested the services could start by banning smoking at military academies, then among recruits. It said the VA and Pentagon should eliminate use of tobacco on its facilities and the military should stop selling tobacco products at its commissaries.

The military and VA have been working for years to reduce smoking among soldiers and vets through a number of programs. The Pentagon laid out a plan in 1999 to reduce smoking rates by 5 percent a year and reduce chewing tobacco use to 15 percent by 2001 â€" and still wasn't able to achieve the goals.

"Tobacco use declined overall from 1980 to 2005, but there has recently been an increase in consumption, possibly because of increased tobacco use by deployed troops," the study said.

The military hasn't placed a high enough priority on reducing tobacco use, according to the study, and that while smoking has declined in the U.S., it remains higher in the military than in the civilian world.

In 2005, a third of members of the active-duty military smoked compared to a fifth of the adult U.S. population, the study said, adding that it "has been implicated in" higher dropout rates during and after basic training, higher absenteeism in the military and other problems.

Criticism of the proposals spread across the Internet and among troops.

"Our troops make enough sacrifices to serve our nation," said Brian Wise, executive director of the advocacy group Military Families United. "They give up many of the freedoms civilians enjoy already without being told they cannot partake in yet another otherwise legal activity."

Spc. Charles Rodriguez, 23, said he started smoking long before he joined the Army and that his pack-a-day habit doesn't affect his physical fitness. His Army instructors during basic training made him quit, but he quickly started up again, Rodriguez said in an interview outside of Fort Campbell, Ky.

During his last deployment to Iraq, Rodriguez found a lot of time to smoke while troops were patrolling or just hanging around the base. He said one of his friends who doesn't normally smoke would join him for a cigarette during the deployment, just out of boredom

Said Rodriguez, "There's nothing else to do and they're cheap over there."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090716/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_military_smoking;_ylt=AiA9JggsQ8bmqvM15pnDDpp34T0D;_ylu=X3oDMTJvcmE4MWtsBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwNzE2L3VzX21pbGl0YXJ5X3Ntb2tpbmcEcG9zAzEEc2VjA3luX2FydGljbGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNwZW50YWdvbndvbnQ-