http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/12/mil...rss_topstories
This is nuts to me. If nothing else, the ramifications for recruiting should give them pause.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/12/mil...rss_topstories
This is nuts to me. If nothing else, the ramifications for recruiting should give them pause.
Smoking should be banned everywhere.
I suspect that like everyone else the military is looking at money. Costs to their health care system, the cost to police the butts and other janitorial issues, etc. And of course we've all seen those WWII movies where Lt. Greenhorn gets sniped because he lit a cigarette in the dark!
Yes, there should be a war on smoking just like there is with drugs because that will solve all the problems. What a sec...Originally Posted by FoRmaT
The world is static and we can tweak it to our hearts' content without any unintended consequences.
For me cigarettes and other drugs should be moved to a middle ground, where people who are addicted to these drugs should be treated as victims rather than criminals (cannabis) or social pariahs (nicotine). Smoking bans are not in the same league as a "war on drugs" until they start putting people in prison for smoking.
For the military it seems pretty obvious that having a 100% smoke free army would be beneficial in many ways, but equally obviously there's going to be a cost involved. I'd think an outright ban now would be too costly, but in ten years after the numbers of smokers in society and the army have dropped significantly, who knows?
A 10-year phaseout seems right. Start with changing the policy to "officially discouraging smoking" and make it harder to do. Don't sell cigarettes on bases, limit where/when you can smoke, and create an education program specifically targeted towards military smoking.
That should help get the military smoking numbers (1 in 3) down close to the general population (less than 1 in 5). Then over the years you gradually move towards an "officially banned" position.
As should eating red meat, and alcohol should be rationed so that no one can drink too much.
You're saying that it's a waste of time to forbid things when some people will not respect those prohibitions?
Uh-huh. Let's make, say, armed robberies legal because people do it anyways!
What I'm saying is that "banning smoking everywhere", which you advocated in the post above, is not an effective response to the problem of smoking. re, war on drugs.
IMO smoking, like drugs, should be regulated and taxed heavily, with educational programs funded to inform people about the negative health risks of their behavior.
There are still issues with tobacco today, sure, but this approach seems to have served the US well the last 20-30 years.
As for smoking in the military, I don't really care. If the brass wants to prohibit smoking, that's pretty much their prerogative. It would definitely work better if phased out though, as opposed to a cold turkey approach. Don't want soldiers to go too insane, heh.
Last edited by Cubit; 07-12-2009 at 09:02 AM. Reason: add, punctuation
Well, it's regulated in the sense that it's forbidden to smoke in most public areas, and obviously cigarettes already are steeply taxed. But you still see parents who chain-smoke next to and contaminate their kids. If parents won't stop forcing their children to inhale their smoke out of respect and thoughtfulness, I think prohibition isn't a bad idea.
WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!
Because people are totally addicted to armed robbery.
If you're in the military, you should only be able to have sex with your (feamle) partner in the missionary position. And no cigarette after!
People can smoke all they want, just don't do it in public places where I have to inhale it, and don't expect the government to pay for your health care when you get lung cancer.
Under those conditions, I can accept people smoking. I just hate walking past a smoker and getting that stuff in my face.
Yes. It's AWFUL when you're standing in the queue at the supermarket and you're behind a chain smoker that stinks of ashtray from every pore of his skin and every fiber of his clothes.
The addiction part isn't the point. The point is the "people do forbidden things, so why forbid them in the first place" part.
You've missed the point it seems.
No one made that argument. Drug prohibition is awful public policy not because people use drugs despite prohibition, but because the social costs wildly outweigh the social benefits, that is, prohibition creates more problems than it solves. Tobacco prohibition would similarly be a public policy disaster.
IME it is even worse when they are wet because it has been raining or something. As with wet (but not-so-clean) dogs, being damp really seems to add an extra kick to the smoke smell that lingers on hardcore smokers.
Format is not gonna have a good time when we get around to legalizing marijuana. There will be even more smokers (err...tokers) in the line for him to smell!
Prohibition isn't a bad idea - it's a momentously stupid idea.
Wish they'd do that with cocaine! Half the laws made seem like they're the result of a politician on a cocaine high.
I approve of marijuana.
Ah, the memories...
You weren't doing it right.
I most certainly was :)
I DID lose the sense for time, once. But it never affected my memory.
They should probably ban bullets and guns in the military. Those things are dangerous.
It's not the nicotine that kills! It's the smoo-ooh-ooh-oke! The smooooo-oh-oke!
Best video ever. :)
Link?
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote