From the ArcaMax Publishing, Health & Fitness Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/healthtips/s-572988-338132
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Defense should phase in a
tobacco ban in the military, beginning at military academies, an
Institute of Medicine report said.
The report, requested by the Defense Department and the Department of
Veterans Affairs, asked the Institute of Medicine to identify policies
and practices that could lower rates of smoking and help soldiers and
veterans quit.
Tobacco use reduces soldiers' physical fitness and endurance and is
linked to higher rates of absenteeism and lost productivity, the
report said.
In 2005, 32 percent of active-duty personnel and 22 percent of
veterans were smokers. Rates among active-duty personnel have recently
increased -- possibly because of growing tobacco use by deployed
troops -- the report said.
"We found that the adverse effects of tobacco use on military
readiness, the health of both smokers and non-smokers and the
financial cost of the medical care of smoking-related illness in
military and veteran populations are a sound basis for moving
systematically toward a tobacco-free military," Stuart Bondurant, of
the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and chairman of the
committee that wrote the report, said in a statement.
All DOD and VA healthcare providers should be able to provide brief
counseling and nicotine-replacement therapy to patients, the report
said. The VA and DOD should develop toll-free "quitlines" to provide
military personnel and veterans with counseling on quitting tobacco.