A report commissioned by the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs calls for ending tobacco sales on base. I was just talking about this with Elysia last week after I saw a young sailor loading up on cartons of cigarettes and tins of chewing tobacco in the Navy Exchange to bring back to the ship.
The tobacco industry has been relentless in the past when it comes to sales to service members. Until 1996 they kept prices on base 50-76 percent lower than civilian prices. It also does not help that tobacco sales on base represent $80 to $90 million in funding for MWR (Morale, Welfare & Recreation) programs on base, including community picnics, youth programs, and other on-base events and services.
I am not saying that smoking is easy to quit but we should not be helping new soldiers, sailors, and Marines become addicts. It has long been accepted that smoking is a public health menace and not just an individual right — and yet the smoking rate in the military is about 33 percent compared to 20 percent among civilians. The rates are also much higher for enlisted than among officers.
The military is in a unique position to control this behavior and if banning tobacco sales on base is not viable, raising prices certainly is another option. A Robert Wood Johnson study found that teen smoking rates dropped by 47 percent when prices were increased.
It is time for the military to catch up with the rest of the country when it comes to public health and tobacco and end the hypocrisy of running anti-tobacco ads on the Armed Forces Network while sailors load up on cheap Skoal and cartons at the NEX.
Of course there are those who feel strongly that smoking is a freedom we should not deny, particularly on the battlefield. Nevermind the fact that several studies have demonstrated that tobacco use decreases military readiness.
My question to the tobacco advocates is: If soldiers did not want to wear body armor in combat zones in the name of individual freedom of choice, would we let them? What makes tobacco any different other than the time frame of the potential death, disability and health care costs?
