Oh this is going to go over REAL well. (sarcasm off)

WASHINGTON -- Pentagon health experts are urging Defense Secretary Robert
Gates to ban the use of tobacco by troops and end its sale on military
property, a change that could dramatically alter a culture intertwined with
smoking.

Jack Smith, head of the Pentagon's office of clinical and program policy,
says he will recommend that Gates adopt proposals by a federal study that
cites rising tobacco use and higher costs for the Pentagon and Department
of Veterans Affairs as reasons for the ban.

The study by the Institute of Medicine, requested by the VA and Pentagon,
calls for a phased-in ban over a period of years, perhaps up to 20. "We'll
certainly be taking that recommendation forward," Smith says.

A tobacco ban would confront a military culture, the report says, in which
"the image of the battle-weary soldier in fatigues and helmet, fighting for
his country, has frequently included his lit cigarette."

Also, the report said, troops worn out by repeated deployments often rely
on cigarettes as a "stress reliever." The study found that tobacco use in
the military increased after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-07-09-smoking_N.htm

--- Xnews/5.04.25