I thought we were a nation at war? Can you imagine our soldiers shooting straight when they're going through nicotine withdrawal? Ah, but no fears - according to a reader who just heard a report on CBS News radio, we're being told that our men and women in the military know how to follow orders, and if they're told do accept a drastic change in policy, they'll do it, daggumit. I'm all for smoking bans. But don't for a minute think that with one in three US service members using tobacco that the smoking ban currently being considered by the administration wouldn't have a serious impact on unit morale and cohesion, and our military's overall readiness. Because it would. At least temporarily.
Maybe the administration should spend more time building public support for the smoking ban so that they can do this by the end of the next term. But only if Congress takes the lead.
LSB: Snarky reference to the DADT policy, but 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." Let's all hope that for good of our national security that DADT is overturned long before soldiers have to deal with this (smoking) 'social experiment.' Also, have they considered the effect to the military's PXs that sell cigarettes? How will eliminating cigarette sales affect the bottom-line of these stores? And might this decision require a bailout for the cigarette manufacturers for their lost sales? We haven't heard yet from the tobacco lobbyists or the civilian contractors operating these stores, so let's not worry too much that cigarette sales for the military will be going away anytime soon.
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