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I saw something once that really bothered me. We went to my son's graduation from Army basic training. I forget how long it had lasted....3 or 6 months, I think. All the soldiers had been tobacco free for that length of time. A set of parents were walking towards their pick up with their soldier, lighting up cigarettes and offering a pack to their son.
This haunts me. What kind of stupid parents would encourage their son to go back to tobacco smoking?
Making cigarettes harder to get is good.
As a former smoker, I know that external restrictions made it easier for me to quit. Little by little, the circle of acceptability got smaller and smaller. We went from lighting up after meals in restaurants, to it not being allowed, for example.
Finally, I could not see myself huddling in a doorway in the cold smoking a cigarette, so I was done with it.
Your stats are way off. Cigarette smoking is a major contributor to heart disease, lung disease, and cancer. Almost half a million people die every year from the effects of cigarette smoking.
According to the CDC, the top 4 causes of death in the US are:
Cigarette smoking significantly contributes to all 4 of those.
Heart disease: 126,000 (21% of all heart disease related deaths)
Cancer: 162,200 (29% of all cancer deaths)
COPD: 92,900 (67% of all chronic lower respiratory disease deaths)
Stroke: 15,900 (12% of deaths due to cerebrovascular disease)
With an additional 44,000 deaths being apportioned to "other diagnoses"
Furthermore, cigarette smoking shortens the average lifespan by 10 years, even when it is not the direct cause or a directly contributing factor to death.
I'm not proposing that tobacco be made illegal. But let's stop trying to pretend it doesn't come with huge health risks attached.
No one, but no one can prove that someone has gotten cancer from 2nd hand smoke....that is as idiotic as fairy tails.....how utterly misinformed.
can you believe how that single incident stuck in her mind, and yet she refuses to see anything else going on around her? Unbelievable...OMG, that terrible horrible situation stuck in her mind for years....?
with all the other awful things going on in this world?>
It has nothing to do with health concerns. It's about tax revenue. Cigarettes sold on military installations are exempt from taxes, so a carton will only set you back around $50. States want the tax revenue from cigarettes.
"Even though the Army and Air Force Exchange Service and Navy Exchange provide tax-free goods, the Defense Department mandates that military outlets keep prices within range of the market value for tobacco and alcohol sold in the States"
"The DOD instruction mandates prices for tobacco sold at military exchanges in the States be set at 5 percent below the lowest civilian competitor price. Overseas, prices must be "within range" of stateside prices"
Eventually cigarettes as an entire market product will be made illegal.
The sooner... the better.
Our country was founded on tobacco, we owe our freedom to it!
$17 billion in tobacco tax revenue was raised by the 50 states in 2011 (20% of it going to treat those with lung problems) not counting Federal taxes on tobacco. Shift those taxes to the nonsmokers, and even they might take some smoking!
During WWI & II, the government and the Red Cross made absolutely sure our soldiers had their share of tobacco. When under the stress of not knowing if you'll survive another day in the war, tobacco was absolutely necessary to their survival, for its calming effect on the soldiers.
Let the tobacco addicts buy their poison off base. The gov does not need to subidize cancer.
Tobacco is an herb, how on earth can you deem an herb poison? Yes, it does have medicinal values, but not in the form of cigarettes, the most dangerous way of consuming it.
Yes, you can drink tobacco. The Indians of South America did it. Make it into a tea, and down the hatch, with a little flavoring!
The lung cancer rates of pipe smokers (one of the safest ways to smoke it) are all but equal to nonsmokers. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!!!
I hate smoking and anything to do with it. I wont step foot in any business that smells like smoke, and wont be around people at work who smell like smoke. I am a smoke snob! BUT, these men and women are sacrificing their lives for us and putting their own needs and those of their family on hold for years. If a cigarette helps them get through their tour, or even helps them stay up on watch one night, it's the least we can do to make them available. They are a legal good and until they are illegal, they should be available to adults.
Your post says it all.
It's legal. Leave them alone. Worry about something important.
Quote:
Originally Posted by longnecker
If it is for their health should they not also be required to stay out of areas where there could be possible gun fire or land mines??
They will probably keep raising the prices like they have done in the past. We started buying from Native American shops which were cheaper than the PX/BX...
In England, they went overboard in taxing tobacco and the black market came rushing in, forcing England to lower the taxes on tobacco to kill the black market.
The black market only wishes and prays they keep raising the price of tobacco!
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