Hagel supports tobacco ban
This is not my shocked face. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel supports a ban on tobacco products at military bases. Just because. From Stars & Stripes;
“I don’t know if there’s anybody in America who still thinks that tobacco is good for you,” Hagel told reporters at the Pentagon in response to a question about the Navy review. “We don’t allow smoking in any of our government buildings. Restaurants, states, [and] municipalities have pretty clear regulations on this. I think in reviewing any options that we have as to whether we in the military through commissaries [or] PXs sell or continue to sell tobacco is something we need to look at. And we are looking at it. And I think we owe it to our people.”
Hagel said that the financial and human costs of tobacco use need to be taken into account. The secretary said that dealing with tobacco-related health issues costs the Defense Department more than a billion dollars a year.
The healthcare costs of tobacco use isn’t among the active force because it takes years for tobacco use to affect a person. It’s not like a twenty year old who runs five miles every morning is going to develop one of these health problems that everyone is so worried about all of a sudden. It’s like the First Lady pronouncements against mess hall chow. Everybody wants to be seen as doing something to shape the military into a big social experiment.
I guess they figure that won’t affect retention either – knowing that you can die for your country with a bullet, but you can’t get that last smoke that’s so popular in the movies. So they’re against smoking, tattoos, and winning wars. Looks like they have their priorities straight.
Category: Military issues
You just know that the health zampolits will be eying package stores next.
First they came for the Tats. Then they came for the smokes. Then they came for the liquor.
Then they made everyone convert to Mormonism.
Hey! Hey! Hey!
Watch that crack about Mormons.
I resemble that remark.
;-))
You’re missing the point, Mr. SECDEF.
Soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines are adults – not children. Use of tobacco is legal.
Provided it doesn’t unduly impact their health, there is no good reason to prohibit the use of tobacco by members of the military. And there is similarly no good reason to prohibit the sale of same at Exchanges.
I don’t use tobacco; it’s nasty, addictive, expensive habit with bad long-term health effects. But I do understand treating adults like adults, and the concept of individual liberties.
The Navy abandoned treating it’s sailors like adults several years back. My family has been Navy for a very long time, but I honestly could not suggest enlisting in today’s Navy to any young man or woman.
Many of the ships now require anyone going on liberty to fill out a form that states where they intend to go, who they are going with, if any alcohol will be consumed, how much, and other such nonsense. It’s as if John Calvin himself is running the show.
http://www.navytimes.com/article/20071217/NEWS/712170322/Kitty-Hawk-sailors-chafe-under-liberty-rules
Calvin was’nt this stupid. They just hate us.
Doesn’t Obama keep refilling his ashtray (and probably have Marines come in to dump it) on a fairly regular basis? And I could’ve sworn that when criticized for his tobacco habit, his defense–with which I agree–was that he’s a grown man and smoking is legal.
Ahh, hypocrisy at its finest from the paragons of integrity in the Glorious Leader’s administration!
You expected something besides hypocrisy?
Sooo…what’s next? Shouldn’t they ban alcohol sales and consumption on post? Shouldn’t they also reenact the ban on the sale of pornography? What about cards and gambling chips? Soda should be looked at too. As well as trans fat served in chow halls and sold in the commissary and PX. All of these things have been linked to societal and/or health negative impacts.
Those of us in the military (current, former, or retired) are obviously too infantile to take care of ourselves. We need nanny government to make these very difficult decisions for us. Thank you Dear Leader.
The next election can’t come soon enough to get rid of Obama and that dolt Hagel. He’s a moron. Of course, the current options for next president aren’t that encouraging either.
Naturally, they should
Let’s look at this through the Immutable Law of Unintended Consequences:
If (when) a tobacco ban becomes fully implemented military wide, I want a share of stock in the gas stations and 7-11s nearest all base gates. You just KNOW that tobacco buying on all those locations will go through the roof. And the state coffers will get richer through the taxes charges and collected. As for the on-post mini marts? (chirp. . . . chirp).
Soldiers being soldiers, they will become inventive in their buying, hiding, hoarding, and smoking of tobacco. No change there.
So who loses here? Why, THE MILITARY, in lost money AND time.
So here’s to you SecDef (up)Chuck Hagel. Join your new BFF Harry Reid, and suck start a bag of manginas.
If they don’t already, AD Personnel will soon admire Hagel as much as they do VD, piss-poor chow and Jane Fonda!
At least with VD you can get your bore punched and a shot of pennicillin and it goes away. These idiots are like herpes; elections only disguise the symptoms until the next outbreak of liberal nanny statism
Hell, we used to run at the back of the platoon and smoke, while we were running. And why is it that the left, you know that “right to choose” group, feel that it’s okay for a woman to kill her unborn child, yet doesn’t think folks can make the decision to smoke?
Oh, they’re fine with smoking…as long as you’re either smoking weed or smoking pole.
Those little “hustle joint” stores at every possible post exit are about to become VERY popular.
Nah, this won’t doom the on-base mini-marts. No siree.
Smoking and chew are not for me, I’ve always found them disgusting and expensive and I when I was younger I was always faster and had more endurance than the smokers in my unit.
I’ve never been much of a drinker either, don’t like the feeling of not being in full control of myself….
But that’s MY decision as an adult with the freedom of action that comes from living in a supposedly free country.
Alcohol and tobacco are legal products and tobacco has been long subsidized by various state and federal entities. Any adult who chooses to exercise their right to use a legal product has my full support even if their choices are not personally correct for my life.
I don’t need or want a government to “take care” of me. The government can’t take care of itself, the level of corruption and power mongering at the expense of the nation has to stop somewhere. We will have the opportunity to send a message in about 7 months and 1 week, I sure hope the electorate decides to send that message. I am however a bit concerned that all the sheep are beginning to believe it’s okay to continue milling about in a closed pen awaiting whatever is next in store for them….that’s not for me either.
I don’t want the government, or anyone else telling me what to do or offering unsolicited advice on how to proceed with my life. You do what you want and I’ll do what I want and as long as we don’t step on the rights of anyone else I think that’s a great way to proceed.
I read an interesting statistic a few days ago. Back in the early 70’s when the Surgeon General mandated that warnings be put on cigarette packs, an estimated 44 million Americans smoked. Today the number of Americans who smoke is estimated to be 44 million. While the percentage of Americans who smoke has gone down (because there are more folks today than back then), the actual number hasn’t decreased. Not advocating either way, but….
“So they’re against smoking, tattoos, and winning wars. Looks like they have their priorities straight.”
Bwuahahaha!! That’s epic, because it’s true…
Try to stop a young troop or an old NCO or even some Officers from sneaking smokes, when and where they can. It will be another discipline and management nightmare. Next…no smoking on base property at all. Then no more booze and next, yes I see it coming, no booze in the Officer’s and NCO clubs. But that’s okay because everyone goes to the NCO club just to shoot the shit and socialize anyway. It never was about the booze…was it?
No Tats Check
No Smokes Check
No Booze Check
No Plans to win wars Check
No Brains in Obama Check
No Brains in Pentagon Check
No Freedoms afforded society in the military Check
No Brains in Obama Check. Well I said that twice because it needed repeating.
No Balls on Hagel Check
I wonder how soon we’ll see four-star 0bamites dancing in front of microphones and DC politicians claiming that the Troops support this shit like they do the pay and benefit cuts? One thing is for sure, as soon as they try to limit alcohol consumption on installations, the number of Personnel getting DUI’s will skyrocket. I was stationed on Ft. Benning 93-94 after that post’s CG removed the limits on how much alcohol bachelor GI’s could have in their barracks, a few problems erupted, most taken care of by NCO Chains, but the number of Troops getting DUI’s plummeted! I still ETS’ed when that enlistment was up due to a lot of other nanny-poo bullshit being inflicted by then-President Clinton and her husband Bill (Blowjob Willie)! One thing is for sure, I DO NOT regret going into the NG when I came back in.
For you youngsters out there, we had packs of cigs at 11 cents, a carton for $1.10 (sea stores). Only allowed to take 2 packs a day on liberty, but we found ways around that reg. Great trading material overseas, you betcha.
Adults, I don’t see any adults making these decision for our troops. BZ
The minute they ban smoking in the military, the day 30 percent of the troop force will get out… guess that is one way to cut down the troop numbers to their goal… too bad it will be most of the honorable soldiers that served their country with distinction.
Soooo glad that they have their priorities straight.
Yeah, that was sarc.