Ban on tobacco urged in military

[disorderlyvision]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-07-09-smoking_N.htm


WASHINGTON — Pentagon health experts are urging Defense Secretary Robert Gates to ban the use of tobacco by troops and end its sale on military property, a change that could dramatically alter a culture intertwined with smoking.
Jack Smith, head of the Pentagon's office of clinical and program policy, says he will recommend that Gates adopt proposals by a federal study that cites rising tobacco use and higher costs for the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs as reasons for the ban.

The study by the Institute of Medicine, requested by the VA and Pentagon, calls for a phased-in ban over a period of years, perhaps up to 20. "We'll certainly be taking that recommendation forward," Smith says.

A tobacco ban would confront a military culture, the report says, in which "the image of the battle-weary soldier in fatigues and helmet, fighting for his country, has frequently included his lit cigarette."

Also, the report said, troops worn out by repeated deployments often rely on cigarettes as a "stress reliever." The study found that tobacco use in the military increased after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Barack Obama | Robert Gates | Institute of Medicine | Kenneth Kizer
Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said the department supports a smoke-free military "and believes it is achievable." She declined to elaborate on any possible ban.

One in three servicemembers use tobacco, the report says, compared with one in five adult Americans. The heaviest smokers are soldiers and Marines, who have done most of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the study says. About 37% of soldiers use tobacco and 36% of Marines. Combat veterans are 50% more likely to use tobacco than troops who haven't seen combat.

Tobacco use costs the Pentagon $846 million a year in medical care and lost productivity, says the report, which used older data. The Department of Veterans Affairs spends up to $6 billion in treatments for tobacco-related illnesses, says the study, which was released late last month.

Along with a phased-in ban, the report recommends requiring new officers and enlisted personnel to be tobacco-free, eliminating tobacco use on military installations, ships and aircraft, expanding treatment programs and eliminating the sale of tobacco on military property. "Any tobacco use while in uniform should be prohibited," the study says.

The military complicates attempts to curb tobacco use by subsidizing tobacco products for troops who buy them at base exchanges and commissaries, says Kenneth Kizer, a committee member and architect of California's anti-tobacco program.

Seventy percent of profits from tobacco sales — $88 million in 2005 — pays for recreation and family support programs, the study stays.

Strong leadership could make the military tobacco-free in five to 10 years, Kizer says. President Obama, he says, could set an example for the military by ending his own smoking habit once and for all. Last month, Obama said he is "95% cured" but "there are times when I mess up" and smoke.

[FindLiberty]

Like any crazy new local law enacted and enforced only within the D. of C., I say go for it! (...just keep it out of the other 50 states you tyrannical parasites.)

The U.S. military certainly has ample "force" available to make a new crazy "no tobacco in the military" rule stick!

Ha, the military, where it all boils down to saving lives... lmao

[Anti Federalist]

Yeah right, nice healthy lungs to huff up all that DU dust.

[Cowlesy]

this proposal will go nowhere hah

[Anti Federalist]

this proposal will go nowhere hah

You really think so?

I disagree.

I think outright tobacco Prohibition: illegal to possess, sell, grow or use, is five years out, tops.

[Cowlesy]

You really think so?

I disagree.

I think outright tobacco Prohibition: illegal to possess, sell, grow or use, is five years out, tops.

I *hope* they try and do that. The one thing our politicians seem to excel at is creating "rebels".

*cranks up the Outlaw Country*

[Anti Federalist]

I *hope* they try and do that. The one thing our politicians seem to excel at is creating "rebels".

*cranks up the Outlaw Country*

That's what I thought you said...;)

[jkr]

and its 1,2,3 what are we fightin for?
don't ask me i don't give a dam, the next stop is IRAN,
and its 5,6,7 open up the pearly gates. Well there aint no time to wonder why...WHOPEE we're all gunna die.

[phill4paul]

It'll happen. When I was in the Navy no one thought workplace bans on tobacco would happen. No one believed an air traffic controller could actually function without a smoke.

The military will do what it wants. Period.

[Anti Federalist]

It'll happen. When I was in the Navy no one thought workplace bans on tobacco would happen. No one believed an air traffic controller could actually function without a smoke.

The military will do what it wants. Period.

Yup.

By the way, while on the subject, my tobacco plants didn't do squat.

Too wet and cold, this year will be a year without a summer, nothing in the garden is doing well.

[Dreamofunity]

All I know is that if I was getting shot at with shit blowing up near me, I wouldn't mind a cigarette every now and then and I hardly smoke.

[Icymudpuppy]

I'm a soldier. I smoke 2-5 times a year. A pipe. As a celebration mostly for things like coming home after a long absence, birth, and other major positive events. I find cigarettes to be bad tasting and low quality, and tobacco addiction to be a sign of low self control and lack of discipline. My soldiers who smoke habitually routinely perform poorly on their physical fitness evaluations, and often have more physical and mental health problems.

This ban would not affect me, as the shit they sell on post is all low quality stuff anyway, and I rarely have reason to celebrate on post, and my rare use does not affect my health. I support this move as it will save taxpayers money on public servant health care.

[catdd]

If you allow the government to encroach where they do not belong - even on one matter - you may as well allow it all. Ron Paul said something to that extent, but I can't remember the exact words.
It's no different than some people who think helmets are a great idea because they "save lives".
Why the hell do they care about anyone else if the people themselves do not care?
It's all a matter of personal freedom.

[Conservative Christian]

FedGov knows that people in the military don't have the same ability to fight back legally and politically, as civilians do.

[Icymudpuppy]

Soldiers voluntarily give up a lot of freedoms in order to better defend the freedoms of civilians in the hopes that when we become civilians again, we can capitilize on the work we've done.

The Uniform Code of Military Justice is not about being free. It's about discipline. The military is not a Democracy, or even a Republic. It is a dictatorship of a feudal nature. A soldier does not own himself when he serves or no-one would follow an order to put themselves in harms way. They put ownership of their lives into the hands of their commanders. If those commanders decide that tobacco use is detrimental to the good order, discipline, and the maintenance of a strong fighting machine of armed forces, and a soldier doesn't like it, they can always become a civilian again and destroy their body which will now belong to them again.

[Objectivist]

Anti Smoking..... another ideal held by the Nazis.

[Conservative Christian]

Soldiers voluntarily give up a lot of freedoms in order to better defend the freedoms of civilians in the hopes that when we become civilians again, we can capitilize on the work we've done.

The Uniform Code of Military Justice is not about being free. It's about discipline. The military is not a Democracy, or even a Republic. It is a dictatorship of a feudal nature. A soldier does not own himself when he serves or no-one would follow an order to put themselves in harms way. They put ownership of their lives into the hands of their commanders. If those commanders decide that tobacco use is detrimental to the good order, discipline, and the maintenance of a strong fighting machine of armed forces, and a soldier doesn't like it, they can always become a civilian again and destroy their body which will now belong to them again.

Those military "commanders" aren't deciding SQUAT.

CIVILIANS in the Obama administration, FedGov and Pentagon, are pressuring those commanders to do this.

Soldiers on the average have always been a heavy smoking and hard drinking bunch, and this policy will only serve to run perfectly good volunteer soldiers out of the military. At a time when we are in GREAT need of MORE volunteers.

This is just another example of another assclown national socialist idea that will actually prove to be detrimental to the service, in regard to personnel retention.

By the way, I don't smoke and never have.

[catdd]

Well if things continue on the course they have taken, it will not be long before we are all living in a state of militarism and there will be little or no difference between being a soldier or a citizen.
The government will take care of us from cradle to grave so we do not destroy ourselves or spend our money frivolously.
...and it's all for our own good.

[Conservative Christian]

Well if things continue on the course they have taken, it will not be long before we are all living in a state of militarism and there will be little or no difference between being a soldier or a citizen.
The government will take care of us from cradle to grave so we do not destroy ourselves or spend our money frivolously.
...and it's all for our own good.

Actually, we're moving quickly toward a cashless society. We'll have no money to spend, just government "credits". If the government disapproves of you, your credits will be cut off. Your old paper money will already be worthless, so good luck surviving.

[heavenlyboy34]

Actually, we're moving quickly toward a cashless society. We'll have no money to spend, just government "credits". If the government disapproves of you, your credits will be cut off. Your old paper money will already be worthless, so good luck surviving.


NOOOOOO!!!! I won't take no chip, dagnabbit! :eek::mad: I'd just barter till I can afford to move out of this madhouse country! :o

[catdd]

They will probably make bartering a capitol offense.

[Icymudpuppy]

Those military "commanders" aren't deciding SQUAT.

CIVILIANS in the Obama administration, FedGov and Pentagon, are pressuring those commanders to do this.

Soldiers on the average have always been a heavy smoking and hard drinking bunch, and this policy will only serve to run perfectly good volunteer soldiers out of the military. At a time when we are in GREAT need of MORE volunteers.

This is just another example of another assclown national socialist idea that will actually prove to be detrimental to the service, in regard to personnel retention.

By the way, I don't smoke and never have.

Apparently you haven't served in the last 25 years either. This policy has been coming for a long time, It doesn't come from Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush, or Reagan. It comes from recommendations to the military from our own internal medical corps which got Cigarettes out of field rations over 30 years ago. The military spends millions on Tobacco secession counseling and medical treatment. I would think that as Tax resistors, and government spending limitors you all would applaud the savings this will put into the Defense budget.

[Anti Federalist]

Apparently you haven't served in the last 25 years either. This policy has been coming for a long time, It doesn't come from Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush, or Reagan. It comes from recommendations to the military from our own internal medical corps which got Cigarettes out of field rations over 30 years ago. The military spends millions on Tobacco secession counseling and medical treatment. I would think that as Tax resistors, and government spending limitors you all would applaud the savings this will put into the Defense budget.

Pretty moot issue I think.

The "Unmanned Force" will be in place before too much longer.

Killbots and drones don't smoke.

And the operators, at their climate controlled, dimly lit, quietly muted stations, thousands of miles away, are the types of people that are the antitheses of the hard drinking, hard smoking "blue collar" G.I.

[Icymudpuppy]

This is the new primary mission of the Army.

https://coin.harmonieweb.org/Knowledge%20Center/FM%203-24.2.pdf

It cannot be performed by drones or robots.

[Sandman33]

Yeah right, nice healthy lungs to huff up all that DU dust.

OH SNAP!

I hope they DO push this through and it pisses the soldiers off enough to run these tyrants out Honduras style!

[Anti Federalist]

OH SNAP!

I hope they DO push this through and it pisses the soldiers off enough to run these tyrants out Honduras style!

I was getting first hand reports from home from a Honduran seaman on my vessel while all this was going on.

The spin and talking points are ridiculous, this was not a "military coup" it was the military acting on the legal orders of the Honduran Supreme Court to bring Zelaya in, for his repeated violations of the Honduran Constitution.

When this proved impossible, they were ordered to remove him.

[Anti Federalist]

This is the new primary mission of the Army.

https://coin.harmonieweb.org/Knowledge%20Center/FM%203-24.2.pdf

It cannot be performed by drones or robots.

Thanks for the link, I'll add that to the library.

I still say bots will play a major role in COIN in the future.