Smoking Ban In The Military

[SinCitiChick]

The hubby and I went to Walgreens today.  We were there to get vitamin water, so I decided to stay in the car.  I was randomly changing radio stations when I hear that there might be a smoking ban in the military.

This is the article I read on FoxNews.com

U.S. soldiers are trained to handle deadly weapons and smoke out enemies but they may soon find that they aren't allowed to handle cigarettes and light up a smoke.

Pentagon health experts are pressing Defense Secretary Robert Gates to ban the use of tobacco by troops and ends its sale on military property, according to USA Today.

Jack Smith, head of the Pentagon's office of clinical and program policy, told the newspaper that he will advise Gates to adopt proposals by a federal study that cites rising tobacco use and higher costs for the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs as reasons for the ban.

The study by the Institute of Medicine calls for a phased-in ban over a period of perhaps up to 20 years.

"We'll certainly be taking that recommendation forward," Smith told the newspaper.

The VA and the Pentagon requested the study, which found that troops worn out by repeated deployments often rely on cigarettes as a "stress reliever." The study also found that tobacco use in the military rose after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began.

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

The study 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.

Okay, so in some ways I get it.  Smoking is bad, no brainer.  But in my opinion, that's a choice we should be able to have.  Military or not military.  My hubby smokes and when he got deployed, it was his stress reliever.  That was his way of handling deployment- and who cares.. why should anyone take that away from- not only him, but every other military man/woman who chooses to light up and smoke.  So it "costs the pentagon $846 million a year".. who the fuck cares!?!?!  I've seen some military people who are over weight.  Are they going to take their right to choose what the hell they can eat too?  And what about alcohol?  Are they going to ban that too?  We all know how bad this stuff is for their livers.  I mean, come on!!!  This is ridiculous to me. 

*This also reminds me of the fact that an 18 year old can learn how to shoot a rifle and kill people in war.  Yet when they come home, they don't have the right to have a beer.  Lol.  It's a joke!!