Tobacco.org

LETTER: Ban smoking at army camps 

Cell Phone System Achieves High Smoking Cessation Rate 

• Video games and the next tobacco frontier: smoking in the Starcraft universe ($$) 

Video games provide rich, interactive environments suitable for tobacco promotion.1 2 The WHO-Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) recommends comprehensive bans on ‘…all forms of commercial communication…with the aim, effect or likely effect of promoting a tobacco product or tobacco use.’ WHO-FCTC implementation guidelines cover entertainment media,3 4 yet surprisingly little is known about the importance of video games for promoting tobacco use.

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, produced by Activision Blizzard, Inc., Santa Monica, California, USA, was the most popular PC military game of 2010, selling 3 million copies worldwide in the first month.5 The game presents 29 battles between humans and aliens, separated by brief scenes or cinematic ‘shorts’, which build a cohesive story, give gamers a pause and represent a reward for advancing in …

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• New rules set more specific smoke-free areas  

Smoke 'em if you got 'em, but don't do it anywhere near an Air Force hospital or clinic. In fact, don't bother lighting up in an installation parking lot, near a sidewalk or your kid's favorite base playground either.

An updated Air Force Instruction on tobacco use in the service says those places are now off-limits to smokers, tobacco chewers, dippers and sniffers. And don't think you're safe smoking electronic -- or e-cigarettes -- or any kind of pipe or hookah.

All such devices also will be relegated to designated tobacco-use areas. And that area will be much farther away than it probably has been.

The new AFI, which went into effect March 26, designates all Air Force hospitals and clinics as tobacco-free environments, which means no smoking within 200 feet of a medical facility campus. That campus includes the facility's parking structures and lots, lawns, and any other contiguous outdoor area.

The days of running outside to get your nicotine fix and lighting up before the door closes are gone, too.

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• TOBACCO USE IN THE AIR FORCE  

SUMMARY OF CHANGES

This document has been substantially revised and must be completely reviewed. Major changes include: designation of tobacco-free medical campuses; updated Designated Tobacco Areas and areas where tobacco use is prohibited; updated policies on tobacco use among Airmen in formal training programs; revised interventions to prevent and decrease tobacco use; and revised delineation of responsibilities to promote a tobacco-free Air Force.

Chapter 1

TOBACCO USE IN THE AIR FORCE

Section 1A— GOAL

1.1. The goal is a tobacco-free AF. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Tobacco use degrades the state of military readiness and the health of military personnel. Commanders and leaders should strive for tobacco-free AF installations and decrease supportive environments for tobacco use.

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EDITORIAL: With tweaked tobacco plan, governor does right by Oklahoma veterans  

Gov. Mary Fallin has decided that if veterans who already live in Oklahoma's state-run homes want to light up, they can. Let's hear it for common sense ruling the day.

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Smoking debate continues to smolder 

LETTER: No-smoking rule demeaning to veterans  

The governor's ban on tobacco use on state property has veterans afraid they'll be encouraged to leave veterans centers if they smoke. Those who join the military agree to give up many freedoms and take personal risks to defend our country. They also have an inclination to other legal risk-taking behaviors such as drinking, tobacco use, motorcycle riding and delicious chow. Unfortunately these risky personal choices are at odds with the current lifestyle craze. So, today's warriors are faced with conflicting messages. They're recruited and trained to take mortal risks on the battlefield but, good heavens, not those risks.

Despite a zero-tolerance smoking and alcohol prohibition during the 11-week boot camp, most resume smoking. . . .

The MSA needs a cessation program.

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• Veterans centers' residents exempt from state-property tobacco ban  

Gov. Mary Fallin has OK'd an exemption from her state property tobacco ban for people living in state veterans homes.

New residents of the facilities will have to agree to live by the tobacco-free policy, but current residents will be exempt from the governor's order.

"As the public servants of Oklahoma implement this policy, the former service member residents of the veterans centers of Oklahoma especially deserve our best efforts to reasonably implement this health initiative considering their unique residential circumstances," Steven Mullins, general counsel to Fallin, wrote Friday to the members of the War Veterans Commission.

In February, Fallin signed an executive order banning tobacco use on state property.

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• Oklahoma's tobacco-using military veterans will be urged to quit ... but they don't have to  

Tobacco-using veterans living at one of the seven state-run centers in Oklahoma will be asked to give up their habits in the near future but likely won't be forced to leave their residences if they don't quit, according to a letter sent on behalf of Gov. Mary Fallin to the War Veterans Commission.

Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz said several veterans called the governor's office after they learned that all state facilities would become tobacco-free by early August. The governor signed an executive order Feb. 6, declaring that all state-owned properties would become tobacco-free within six months.

That includes veterans centers, where roughly 20 percent of the residents smoke or use other forms of tobacco.

Many of them started smoking while they were in the military. Many claim they were encouraged to smoke to remain vigilant and slender while they served. And many claim they were given cigarettes in their rations by the federal government.

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RI anti-smoking effort aims to help veterans quit  

NORMAN: Not the usual tobacco article 

Many tobacco users believe that tobacco use relieves their stress. In reality it actually increases it.

According to a recent article published on the Department of Defense's tobacco cessation website, tobacco users feel normal after using nicotine, but stress levels rise in between smoke or chew breaks. Thus, tobacco users are constantly bouncing back and forth between feeling normal immediately after tobacco use and feeling increasingly stressed as the hours pass.

"Nicotine gives the impression of reducing stress because, for those addicted to nicotine, the experience of not having nicotine in their body is extremely stressful," said Cmdr. Aileen Buckler, a U.S. Public Health Service officer and chairman of the DOD Alcohol and Tobacco Advisory Committee.

Another way tobacco can cause stress has to do with social life. For example, imagine you are a single airman and you have a date with a non-smoker or meet a non-smoker you are interested in. If the first thing that person notices about you is the stench of tobacco smoke or that your teeth are stained from tobacco use, then your first encounter may not lead to a second.

I am not preaching. I am a regular smokeless tobacco user and recently saw some photos which made me decide to try and change my ways. . .. .

Have you ever thought about how tobacco use could affect the Air Force mission? . . .

If you decide that you would like to kick the habit, the Health and Wellness Center has information about the many resources available to you. The HAWC can be contacted at 481-5013.

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Smoking VC hero given a special cigs card 

THE article (21/2) about Barrow Mayor John Murphy being presented with a book featuring the exploits of First World War Victoria Cross winner William Thomas Forshaw struck a chord with local historian Geoff Holme.

He has supplied a cigarette card featuring the Barrow-born soldier who was born in 1890 and worked as a teacher in the Manchester area.

Many war heroes featured on cigarette cards. Major Forshaw, then a lieutenant, was pictured on card 190 in a series of sets issued by Gallaher.

On the back it notes that he was serving with the Manchester Regiment when he earned the nation's highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy.

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BYRNE: Navy and Marines to extinguish the smoking lamp aboard ship?  

Now the Navy is moving to end the "epidemic" of smoking in the ranks of the Navy and Marine Corps. This makes the smoking police very happy, witness the press release from the American Lung Association. It said,

“The American Lung Association commends Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus for taking important steps to confront the military’s tobacco epidemic. The 21st Century Sailor and Marine initiative will help Sailors and Marines quit tobacco, promote tobacco-free environments and put in place environmental changes that will reduce tobacco use throughout the Navy and Marine Corps. This is an unprecedented investment in the comprehensive health of Sailors, Marines and their families.

I can see it now: You have to go out on deck to grab a smoke because everywhere inside the ship will be declared a "smoke-free" environment. I'm no longer a smoker, but I--as a former Navy officer--can't imagine a smokeless ship. Or forcing the smokers onto the weather deck during a gale.

Here's the association's full press release:

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• New Navy rules take aim at alcohol abuse, smoking 

The Navy is taking a more aggressive approach to curbing alcohol and illegal drug use, moving closer to a smoke-free force and improving assistance for female sailors starting families under initiatives announced Monday by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus.

Mabus and other top Navy and Marine leaders came to Norfolk Naval Station for an "all hands" broadcast to forces worldwide to announce several changes in policies and regulations that are aimed at improving the fleet's readiness.

Perhaps the most significant issue, Mabus told more than 500 sailors and Marines gathered in a hangar bay of the amphibious assault ship Bataan, is the rising problem of alcohol abuse. . . .

The readiness effort also includes stronger discouragement of tobacco use. The department is ending the subsidy of cigarettes and other tobacco products sold at base commissaries and exchanges. The Navy is making available smoking cessation materials to all personnel at no cost.

Navy officials believe that smoking can contribute to poor health among active-duty sailors and retirees. They contend that cracking down on the behavior can reduce time lost to sickness and lower health care expenses.

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