"Pentagon considering banning cigarette sales on ships..." Topic

…and bases.

"If you're a member of the military, easy access to cigarettes could soon go up in smoke.

The Department of Defense is considering banning the sale of cigarettes on ships and bases in an effort to get service members to stop smoking.

The Pentagon says no final decision has been made about banning sales to the troops, but Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, himself a Vietnam vet, explained why he has asked for a review…"
Full article here.
link

What next? No drinks??!! (smile).

Amicalement
Armand

Long overdue!

WE all know those will kill you …

Tobacco use costs the DoD an estimated $1 USD .6 billion annually in medical costs and lost work time. We estimate 175,000 current active duty service members will die from smoking unless we can help them quit.

Sounds like reason enough to me. I wonder if they'll allow e-cigs?

Yet they hand out ammo for free (just one bullet will kill you 8(. putting their members in dangers way is part of the deal but letting a nervous 18 have a fag just not on. Priceless. ( I am a dedicated non smoker and as long as smokers don't blow smoke in my face I'm happy to not wizz in their beer ;)

I see this as just another way for the government to impose their will upon the masses! If I want to smoke I will! I "paid my dues" for the right to pursue happiness on MY terms, not on someone else's idea of happiness! Remove the sales of alcohol and see what happens next! (I smoke but i don't drink, but I see both as a right and personal choice.) What next????? Federal tax on soft toilet paper?????

Watch this subject get nuked, too!

I have to re-read the article, but I don't remember reading that they couldn't smoke on ship. They just would no longer be able to buy them on board. Sure, it will make sailors plan ahead, but it is hardly the trampling of constitutional rights. Maybe they should just have service people sign a contract saying waiving their right to health benefits for smoking-related illnesses and keep selling smokes on board.

But these measures do not induce cigarette smuggling on board?

Amicalement
Armand

Pardon the pun, but to do that is just a "smoke screen" to cover the real issue. Tobbacco has been a big industry in the USA for hundreds of years now. …..

I prefer to use Occam's razor to cut through the smoke screen.

"Pentagon spokesman Lt Col Cathy Wilkinson added in a statement, 'Tobacco use costs the DoD an estimated $1 USD .6 billion annually in medical costs and lost work time. We estimate 175,000 current active duty service members will die from smoking unless we can help them quit.'"

Sounds like 1.6 billion (or 175K depending on your priorities) reasons that have nothing at all to do with conspiracy theories in an age when our military is woefully under-manned and under intense pressure to cut costs.

Uhhhh? You do realize how many people die from lung cancer and how expensive it is to treat those people? The medical cost is far more then the profit made by tobacco companies. Who pays the cost of that medical costs? We do with higher insurance premiums and your medicare taxes. Also think how many families lose a love one way too earlier. Never got to see my mothers father due to lung cancer, dead before I was born.

Now as to fracking, if Europe wants to be free from Russian gas they should go ahead and start fracking. But it wont happen due to the idiot earth first people. These are the same idiots who forced the closure of the Nuclear power plants, which required an increase in coal and gas power plants. Besides minor quakes and cheap companies not cementing the drill hole correctly or illegally dumping the fluid mixture they use, it is safe enough for me to encourage an increase in use.

Oil cost is dependent on production costs and demand. Fracking is not cheap. It is economical when oil costs a certain amount per barrel. If the price drops below that, you stop fracking. Also I am not a proponent of giving companies cheap lease prices for drilling on Federal land. I see that land as a reserve for later use.

Tom, there is so much strangeness in you last post, I had to check to make sure it wasn't still April Fool's Day. I'm still not sure you didn't write it using one of those "random outrage" text generators.

Taking just one point:

. . . here is yet another industry that is under the thumb of a movement (I left the adjective out) to further erode the working class and make them more dependent upon government handouts and decrease the tax base.

How exactly does helping people stop smoking "erode the working class" or "make them more dependent upon government handouts"?

With very, very few exceptions, every smoker I've ever met wishes they'd never started smoking and has tried just about every trick in the book to quit.

The ones who have managed to quit, like my Dad, are thankful every day. (He began smoking as an 18-year-old in the USAF, switched to a pipe at 32, and quit for good after his first heart attack at 53.)

Many of the ones who haven't, including members of my family, friends, and coworkers, are either dead or battling horrific diseases like "smoker's cough," COPD, lung cancer, and smoking-related heart disease.

J, You must realize that there are some people out there that see things differently. I am one of them. As for the costs related to that, ever see how much alcohol costs the taxpayer and the cost of the agony it has on the lives of people around them (and when there is a deadly accident, the pain and suffering of other parties?) NO, Because the costs are also extremely high,…yet that cause is not yet ripe to attack- too many still enjoy alcohol responsibly. Same for tobacco use.

One last point on medical costs. Sometime, look at what is spent on "sports injuries" in the military. With more emphasis on physical fitness, many go to the gym on duty time and try to get a workout in an hour. I do not know anyone here who has not had to visit a doctor due to pulling a muscle, broken bone or have some other problem at one time or another from the mind thinking they are 18 still when they are physically 35+! Again, moderation should be the keyword, not bans!

But I no longer drink their Kool-aid. I see it as an infringement on how I live my life. My opinion and I stand by it. At 61, I feel I have seen enough evidence of how life works and I am not buying 100% of what is spoon fed me. You are free to make your choices as well, (still a right, for now).

I am just sad to see so many "educated" people who spount the company line,(Not really addressed to anyone specifically here, but rather, to the general public) who do not practice what the schools SHOULD have taught them….to use that education to think for themselves and question everything, then follow what's right for them.

The military is forcing out thousands these days. We had an announcement that if you were scheduled to re-enlist this Fiscal year, see your retention representative now to get into a transition program. Not everyone will be afforded an opportunity to re-up. I would hate to be someone at 16 years , needing only 4 more to retire just to be told I am being forced out due to budget cuts. Think of what that will do to our "volunteer" services.

Now let's get back to the regularly scheduled game and figure talk! I'd rather dwell on more pleasant thoughts with like minded folks about our beloved hobby.

Incredibly stupid policy. Rubber bullets next?

10CC!

So if I wanted to game this…

Who makes coalminers with black lung, Cigarette salesmen, army PX's, and members of congress in 28mm?

I suggest a combination of Paranoia and Pandemic but with monopoly money and D6 combat… with an IgoUgo movement structure

I think the way it should be done. Troops can still have the option to smoke, but they won't be sold on post/aboard ship. And smoking will not be allowed on post … Healthcare costs due to such a habit, as pointed out, is expensive. And physically fit, healthy soldiers cost less in medical expenses … The US has been telling everyone how bad tobacco is for you since the '60s. And it is well documented how much damage it does, including second-hand smoke … So I think it is a good idea to limit the access to tobacco. High healthcare costs it incurs if for no other reasons …