Legislation to Ban Smoking In the Military!! What??

Whats next?? Am I the only one that finds this ludicrous? I know that smoking is hazardous for my health and I am battling to quit smoking as I post this...but I am pretty damned sure that bombs and grenades and bullets ain't good for ya either!! What are these people thinking? We send our husbands, sons, wives and daughters off to fight in foreign countries away from their families, friends and lives, put them in harms way, and now the government wants to tell them that they can not smoke?? This makes me angry, and it should make you angry too! Its just going to affect smokers, so who cares right? WRONG! First they tell you can't smoke, then on to some other right that they can take away and then another...This is supposed to be the Land of the FREE! Heres something for you to chew on too...the average price for a pack of smokes around here is 6.00. Most of that is tax. Everyone stops smoking and guess what...they are going to find some other way to get that money...maybe it will be a outrageous tax on something that you enjoy. How many men and women do you think will enlist or re-enlist of their own free will if this passes? I personally think that there are more important things for the government to be worried about right now besides our soldiers smoking...say for instance...the ECONOMY...unemployment...

[edit on 13-7-2009 by Greenize]

Heh, I have been chewing on this one, to be sure. First, the tax argument can be thrown out on the federal level. They have figured a way around us there. They just print more! Money is the new Doritos. Don't worry, we'll make more. Back to the topic (maybe). There have been some recent changes to how cigarettes are manufactured what with the new burn outs, etc. Is it possible that they are just a little bit more toxic these days? We wouldn't want the strong arm of the executive suffering from the same affects from it that the "common" folk are, right?

Maybe out there but, heh, this is a "conspiracy" site, right?

reply to post by Chemley


You are probably right about the tax thing, but do you not find this a bit over the top. Doesn't it irk you at all? We are sitting by watching our freedoms be stripped away from us one at a time... if I want to smoke, that is my choice...

I think its a good idea.

There will be a transitional period and smokers will be upset, then they'll get over it or get out and everyone will be the better for it.

Members of the armed forces don't have the individual rights that we are accustomed to in civilian life and there are all kinds of restrictions on personal behavior.

This still has to pass, but if it does, it will make for a healthier fighting force.

Starred and flagged.

I say, BS. We ask these men and women to put their lives on the line for us, and they cannot even have a smoke?

This will reduce enlistments because of some dipstick liberal baloney.

Shouldn't we have a military that is fit to fight and able to endure exhausting conditions?

Smoking doesn't exactly improve your lung efficiency, not to mention the effects of withdrawal.

This ban would be beneficial to their health.

reply to post by PieKeeper

Originally posted by PieKeeper
Shouldn't we have a military that is fit to fight and able to endure exhausting conditions?

We do. Our military is the best in the world.

However, the days of living in trenches for weeks on end are long gone, at least for our military. We are much more modernized and technically advanced.

Certain branches, of course, are more physically demanding than others.

Smoking doesn't exactly improve your lung efficiency, not to mention the effects of withdrawal.

Your statement might be relevant if smoking were a requirement. It is not.

This ban would be beneficial to their health.

So would staying out of the line of fire. but that's not being banned, is it?