The Smokeless Battlefield

As the world's understanding of the effects of lighting up a cigarette continues to expand, governments around the world are working to not only make it more difficult to smoke, but to ban smoking all together. Not to be outdone, the United States Military is making recommendations that smoking among soldiers be ban over the next 5 to 10 years.

This is a move that is being seen in two very different lights. Current smokers believe that there is no need for a smoking ban in the military. Some of the top officers even feel that a hit of nicotine is needed during the stressful times of war. What those top officials fail to realize is the overall benefit that a smoking ban would have on the US Armed Forces.

There are three major problems with the current rules towards tobacco in the Armed Forces. First is the relative cost that we require soldiers to pay for their tobacco. For years the taxes associated with tobacco sales have increased, paying for government program after government program. We have come to realize that because people will buy tobacco no matter how much it cost, it is a good way to fund programs that my otherwise not exist. In particular, programs that provide healthcare for large groups choose to tax tobacco because tobacco use is the single most expensive factor in increasing the overall cost of healthcare in the United States. While this method has been used for years to discourage people from smoking, one very large group has been exempt from its effects. As many know, goods purchased on a military base are provided tax free. This includes tobacco products. A carton of cigarettes that may cost $45 or $50 to a civilian may only cost $20 to a member of the military. When taxes are placed on the tobacco products, it has no effect on the cost of tobacco for a soldier. This can be seen clearly as the average number of smokers in the US military is one in three, while the rest of the country, including smokers in the military, only comes to one smoker for every five Americans. If we continue to do nothing to discourage soldiers from smoking, the difference will become even greater.

The second major problem with soldiers smoking is the ever present health effects. There are very few in the United States who do not know that smoking is bad for their health. Those who choose not to believe in the health risks are simply ignoring the wealth of information to continue indulging themselves in their habits. We know that smoking leads to some of the most horrible cancers and diseases that we still face in modern medicine. We have all seen the pictures of diseased lungs and hearts, and the physical destruction that smoking can do to our bodies. We even know that one in three smokers will eventually suffer a smoking related death. Then there are the short term effects that soldiers should care about. Shortness of breath is one of the last things that a soldiers needs when he is in a fight for his life.

The last problem is one that almost everyone tends to care about, money. The overall cost to the government that is a direct result of smoking is astronomical. First you have the cost of the tobacco. For years, every soldier was issued tobacco with every meal, costing the government hundreds of millions a year. Then there are the medical costs. Soldiers are given a unique benefit for their service, free health care for life. When soldiers are allowed to smoke, they are all but guaranteeing that the government will spend thousands, if not millions, more on the healthcare cost for that single individual. If the government was not forced to pay this healthcare costs, the money spent could be used to provide for hundreds of other government sponsored programs, or maybe even put back into the pockets of every American that pays taxes.

This ban is far past due. It is possible to fight and not need a cigarette. Two thirds of the Armed Forces manage to accomplish it. We should encourage the government to implement the ban, even if it takes ten years. Our soldiers should be fighting the enemy, and not lung cancer.

Smoke’em Out

A new federal tax on cigarettes went into effect today, and apparently it's breaking news. When I got to the CNN website this morning, the very first picture on the page is a man complaining about how he has to pay more for his smokes. "They're picking on us poor people…" say the man, "They have been for years." While I know what it feels like to feel picked on, I don't really have much sympathy for smokers. The main complaint appears to be that smokers feel that they are being singled out for tax increases every time the government wants to fund something, and all I have to respond to that is… "You are, Deal with it."

It's not often that I side with the majority, but in this case, I have too. First off, we all know that smoking is bad for you. If there is anyone still out there that doesn't agree with me is either completely naïve, or is so old that they are still living in the 50's. Smoking is related to an increase in every health risk from cancer to diabetes. There is a reason that smokers get charged higher health insurance premiums. Study after study has shown that smoking is a slow painful death, and yet there is still a group out there that refuses to stop the habit.

Next, smokers are part of a group that, in economics, which are referred to as inelastic. Inelastic means that if the price of a good goes up, the demand for the good remains the same. This means that if the price of cigarettes increases, very few people will stop smoking. This is a great thing for the government. If the lawmakers need to find a way to fund a program, inelastic goods are great things to tax.

There is a way to combine these two points. Smokers often fall in the category of not having health insurance. They have an income under the poverty level and cannot afford it, or they are already living off the government and have everything paid for by Medicare or Medicaid. This does not mean that everyone under the poverty level or on Medicare smoke. But there are many studies which show that smokers are lower income households with no medical insurance. So what happens when these people get sick? The government pays for their medical care, while they continue to smoke. So why should we not have them pay for some of the other programs.

What was the new program funded by the tax increase, SCHIPs, State Children's Health Insurance Programs. That's right, the increase is slated to help develop programs that provide health insurance for children of parents who can't afford private insurance for their children but don't qualify for Medicaid. Why are smokers complaining?

Yes the new tax is almost 10 times more that it was a yesterday, and yes it is going to cost an extra $10 to buy a carton, but you can always avoid the tax and quit smoking. It would help everyone, especially you. Stop complaining just for the sake of complaining. If you are not willing to change, regardless of the price, both money and health, then be quiet and hand over the cash.