Military To Ban Tobacco?

July 11, 2009 By CJ
Posted in Uncategorized

Think about some of the images from past wars and conflicts. Now, compare and contract those images in your mind and tell me what you see as the common denominator. If you’re thinking of the same images I am, it’s the cigarette. As far back as our military goes, you can bet that tobacco played a large role. For decades, cigarettes were even included in MREs for deployed troops. Well, “Pentagon health experts” want to put an end to that.

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.

I’m not a smoker or any sort of tobacco user. I refuse to even buy cigaretters for another person even if they give me money. When I was younger, my parents used to smoke in the car with the windows rolled up and I absolutely hated it. After trying a puff at 11, I was convinced it was the most disgusting habit in the universe!

However, that doesn’t mean it’s right to ban military members from smoking. I do agree that the costs of treating health conditions caused by smoking should NOT be borne on the backs of American taxpayers. Smokers should have to pay for any smoking cessation classes in the military. Currently, patches, gum, and other treatments don’t cost military members a dime. If Soldiers want to kill themselves by smoking, then I sure don’t want to pay for it. Smokers should have to pay a higher premium for their SGLI, but they shouldn’t be banned from smoking. I also don’t think it should be subsidized in military commissaries and PXs. Let them pay full price like off post.

Banning smoking in the military is asinine. We have enough trouble as it is controlling and managing stress without taking away the one thing that most troops turn to for relaxation and calming. From what I’ve heard, smoking a cigarette after a stressful day is a great way to relieve stress. If troops can’t find a way to relieve that stress, what do you think will happen?

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t smoke and I’ve found ways of dealing with stress without slowly killing myself with a cancer stick. We just seem to be going in the wrong direction lately. First we tell Soldiers what kind of magazines they can read. Now we’re going to tell them whether or not they can smoke. We may very well solve the health care crisis, but banning smoking in the military is sure going to prevent people from signing up!

For the sake of argument, let’s assume we do ban cigarettes in the military. Will the military adopt a urinalysis program to test for tobacco use? Will Soldiers be kicked out of the military for testing positive for tobacco use? This is just insane to me and I’m not even a smoker. Probably right up there with one of the dumbest ideas in military history!

Update: I know I’m behind on this and just saw that Marcus also commented on this. I’ll keep this up since my point of view is a little different.

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