This is a couple days old but I have not been home. So they can die for our government but the government might not let them enjoy a smoke? I don’t have the strength to go off on this today…..

By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Pentagon health experts are urging Defense Secretary Robert Gates to ban the use of tobacco by troops and end its sale on military property, a change that could dramatically alter a culture intertwined with smoking.

Jack Smith, head of the Pentagon’s office of clinical and program policy, says he will recommend that Gates adopt proposals by a federal study that cites rising tobacco use and higher costs for the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs as reasons for the ban.

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. “We’ll certainly be taking that recommendation forward,” Smith says.

A tobacco ban would confront a military culture, the report says, in which “the image of the battle-weary soldier in fatigues and helmet, fighting for his country, has frequently included his lit cigarette.”

Also, the report said, troops worn out by repeated deployments often rely on cigarettes as a “stress reliever.” The study found that tobacco use in the military increased after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began.

Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said the department supports a smoke-free military “and believes it is achievable.” She declined to elaborate on any possible ban.

One in three servicemembers use tobacco, the report says, compared with one in five adult Americans. The heaviest smokers are soldiers and Marines, who have done most of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the study says. About 37% of soldiers use tobacco and 36% of Marines. Combat veterans are 50% more likely to use tobacco than troops who haven’t seen combat.

Tobacco use costs the Pentagon $846 million a year in medical care and lost productivity, says the report, which used older data. The Department of Veterans Affairs spends up to $6 billion in treatments for tobacco-related illnesses, says the study, which was released late last month.

Along with a phased-in ban, the report recommends requiring new officers and enlisted personnel to be tobacco-free, eliminating tobacco use on military installations, ships and aircraft, expanding treatment programs and eliminating the sale of tobacco on military property. “Any tobacco use while in uniform should be prohibited,” the study says.

The military complicates attempts to curb tobacco use by subsidizing tobacco products for troops who buy them at base exchanges and commissaries, says Kenneth Kizer, a committee member and architect of California’s anti-tobacco program.

Seventy percent of profits from tobacco sales — $88 million in 2005 — pays for recreation and family support programs, the study stays.

Strong leadership could make the military tobacco-free in five to 10 years, Kizer says. President Obama, he says, could set an example for the military by ending his own smoking habit once and for all. Last month, Obama said he is “95% cured” but “there are times when I mess up” and smoke.

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Just wanted to send out a quick Happy July 4th to everyone. I hope you get to spend the day with family, grill some burgers, drink some beer and have that special smoke. We will be having our annual 4th party today with all of the above.

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Just wanted to make a quick post letting you know that I dropped the price of the 5×8 cigar journal until July 4th. For more information on it you can visit the cigar journal page. The front cover has changed from what is on that page, visit our store at Cafe Press to see the updated look.

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Just like that 500 people will be jobless and will not be able to support families in Florida.  Altadis USA announced Tuesday that it is shutting down its Hav-A-Tampa plant in Tampa Florida due to higher cigar taxes and decreasing demands. In a letter to the state, USA said it plans to terminate 492 positions by Aug. 24.

Rick McKenzie, the company’s vice president of human resources, says business has been hurt by rising taxes. A new federal tobacco tax SCHIP went into effect in April and will help pay for a health insurance program for low-income children. Cigars will continue to be produced at a plant in Puerto Rico.

I would like to thank President Obama for going after rich, bad, bad tobacco companies that are making me smoke. I’m sure we will have some new kids using SCHIP from the almost 500 that will be jobless now.

R.I.P.
1902 – 2009

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