US military ’should ban smoking’
Published on: 11th July, 2009
The US military should be smoke-free within the next 20 years, says a government-commissioned report.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) said 30% of army personnel are smokers, leading to “very high” economic and health costs.
But it acknowledged that the change could be hard to introduce, as smoking has “long been associated with the image of a tough, fearless warrior”.
The Pentagon has said it supports the idea and believes it is “achievable”.
The report, commissioned by the Pentagon and the US Veterans’ Administration (VA), says the US Defense Department spends more than $1.6bn (£1bn) every year on tobacco-related medical care, hospital treatment and lost days of work.
It said that rates of tobacco smoking in the military have increased since 1998, and may be as high as 50% among service personnel returning from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Soldiers who smoked were less fit, had worse night vision, and recovered more slowly from wounds.
“These troops are essentially putting their lives at risk twice: once in service to their country and once in service to tobacco,” said Stuart Bondurant, chair of the report committee.
“Tobacco is a long term engagement – it kills slowly and insidiously.”
‘Achievable’
The report said the armed services already “acknowledge that tobacco use impairs the readiness of military personnel and results in enormous health and financial costs”.
But it criticised them for allowing smoking on military sites, giving less attention to tobacco use than alcohol abuse and for selling tobacco products to troops at reduced prices.
A spokesperson for the Pentagon said the department was in full support of the goal of a tobacco-free military.
Cynthia Smith told the AFP news agency that the goal was “achievable through the development and execution of a comprehensive plan as recommended by the IOM report”.
“We look forward to using the committee’s findings and recommendations as we address this challenging health and readiness issue,” she said.
As long as the military is all volunteer, I can see it. If the draft is reinstated for all 21 year old adults, I see major problems.
A couple of years ago a councilman in Winooski, VT wanted to boot the local veterans out of their posts and into the cold to smoke. He justified it by saying, “This seems like a good way to honor our veterans, to prolong their lives.”
The Councilman probably agreed with the Lung Association’s spokesman, Joel Africk, who urged people not to send smokes to soldiers in Iraq even if those soldiers asked for them, saying “Tobacco use presents an immediate and real danger for our soldiers who are on the lines today… our troops should be sent care packages that don’t kill.”
I suggest that Mssrs. Clark and Africk should spend some time with these fighting men personally, and discuss these issues of honor and danger with them as they stand in the snow outside their veterans’ halls and huddle in trenches in Fallujah. I’m sure they’d find the discussions most enlightening and the end result of the discussions would benefit all of us.
And the same holds true for those who’d try to ban active duty soldiers from smoking. Sad.
Michael J. McFadden,
Author of “Dissecting Antismokers’ Brains”
Absolutely unbelievable……A person stands on the frontlines being shot at for our freedom and we want to tell them they can’t smoke because its dangerous. Since when does telling citizens what they can and cannot do still fall into the “Land of the free and home of the brave”? Smoking impairs military rediness? Soldiers have been smoking since humans started fighting……..long hours in trenches, stress from IED’s, gunfire, and watching your closest friends die from multiple gunshot wounds or missing limbs also impair rediness. Stop fighting wars for other countries would be the best solution to the so called economic burden.
I’m looking for a free country to live in……..I agree with Michael McFadden, sit on the front line with the soldiers, then you have the right to complain.
Sgt Snyder USMC
I totally agree with Shawn Synder