Should the military ban smoking by service members?

Eugene it is not the smoking Vets at VA hospitals that you smell, it must be those damn homelss Vet you pass each day as you pretend not to notice. Smoking has been banned in all VA hospital for at least 14 years with a federal fine if you are caught.

These guys risk their lives on the Battlefield everyday! No one has the right to tell anyone else what to do, much less these men and women whether they can smoke or not! Leave them alone and appreciate what they do for this country! Is it not enough that these men and women are regimented and trained to kill and die on the Battlefield for this country of Liberal Fruit-Loops whose only goal it seems to me is to take away the very rights these soldiers fight and die for! I don't know what most other people think, but I do know that there are some very real and serious problems in this country, but instead of trying to solve these problems, these Liberals are more interested in judging other peoples personal habits and legislate against them! It would be funny if it weren't so Pathetic, but these are the same Liberals that want too Legalize the Smoking of Marijuana yet make the smoking of Tobacco Illegal! I have no problem with Liberals trying to Legalize the Smoking of Marijuana, but don't waste mine or your time trying to convince me or yourselves that Marijuana is any less healthy than Tobacco! As a matter of Fact, there's every reason to believe that Marijuana is worse for you than Tobacco is! The Hypocrisy from the Liberal Left-Wing is Deafening! Both are plants that you smoke and that smoke is a known Carcinogen! As a matter of fact I think that maybe American Troops in a Combat Zone should be allowed to Smoke Marijuana along with their Tobacco considering all of the @!$%# that a Combat Soldier goes through! Something that a Left-Wing Liberal would never know about! The first time a Left-Wing Liberal hears the words War or Combat, the first thing they do, like the Cowards they are is find a Microphone and a Camera so, Like The Good Communists They Are, they can Denounce It and Blame America First! Just like what Happened on 9/11/2001 with 3000 Americans Dead, These Liberal Scum-Bags Blamed America First! I will never forget that America Was Attacked First, I Will Never Forget That 3000 American Citizens Were Murdered and I Will Never Forget There Were These Dregs Of Society, The Left-Wing Liberal Scum-Bags Up At Their Usual Podiums Denouncing and Blaming America Again, everyone here knows what I'm talking about! You know them, their excuses, maybe we had no right to invade Afghanistan even though Al-Qaida had just Murdered 3000 Americans, They were given the choice, turn over That Murdering @!$%#er, Osama Bin Laden and his Murdering Deputies or we'll come in try and find him on our own! We never found the Islamo-Fascist Son-Of-A-@!$%#, but at least our American Troops and our Allies are trying, we've killed and/or captured some of the Bastards through no help from some of our own Treasonous Bastards, The Liberal Left-Wing who'll do anything in their power to run our Own United States Military into the ground! I remember the invasion of Iraq, an Action to Which I Was Opposed, but in the Broader Scheme of things what's the Difference? Saddam Hussein, A Despot in every sense of the word is no longer in Power, what a breath of fresh air it must be to no longer be ruled by a Megalomaniacal Murderer whose own Children were said To Be Worse than he was! I'm not saying it's a picnic there now, I'm saying it's better than it ever was before! We paid for some of the sins That The United States Of America may have committed in the Middle East in the past and the American Soldier can Hold His Head High for the Professional Way in Which They Carried Out Their Jobs Both in Afghanistan and in Iraq and I will remember that the American Soldier belongs to one the Most Elite Fighting Force In The World and I Will Always Be Proud Of Them, My Countrymen, Men and Women Who'll Give Their All That We Might All Be Free, Even Those Sleazy Cowards in this Country Who Have A Ferocious Hatred For Our Armed Forces and All They Stand For! These Liberal Scum-Bags should get down on their knees and kiss the boots of these Servicemen and Women but they won't, they're too arrogant for that! It's time for the American to start learning about these Arrogant and Selfish Slugs; Slugs like the Rev. Jeremiah Wright who Preached Hatred of the White Man to Barak Obama for over 20years, he even married the Obama’s and baptized their children, I wonder if Rev. Wright made sure to Baptize them in Hate as well! It was Rev. Wright who took it upon himself to tell as many Blacks, Including Obama of course, that it was that White Led Government Of The United Sates Of American Who Was Responsible For Infecting The Black Community With HIV-AIDS, I Really Wonder How Much Of That Crazy Bull-@!$%# Barak Obama Believed! Might that be why he's so hip to this Cap & Trade @!$%# that he knows will Break the Back of Every Poor and Middle Class American Black and White when it comes time to pay the Energy Bills like the Electricity Bill!

Many years ago, a family friend who made his living as a " statitician ", told me that statitics can be made to show whatever you want them to show. Therefore, I DO NOT believe all the horrible data the bleeding hearts are trying to cram down our throats. I'm NOT saying that smoking is " good " for you, but since we are exposed in a multitude of ways to a multitude of dangers on a daily basis, I do not believe they can accurately attribute blame for health problems solely on smoking. Aside from the foregoing, our military (as well as MOST of us) are adults and don't want OR need the government to be our " mommie or daddy ". They have infiltrated our lives FAR TOO MUCH ALREADY!!!!!

Smoking kills and wounds more people every day than are wounded and die in combat. Smoking, sucking on cancer sticks or coffin nails, (as they were called back in the 40'a and 50's, not only pollutes the air around us, but makes the individual sucking on the stick stink horribly. This stink also attaches to the people around him when he sucks.

I know I would be very upset if I were in combat if some one smoked around me giving away our position.

I do not care if you want to commit slow suicide, I do care if you are trying to take me with you and using my tax dollars to do it.

The world is overpopulated as it is. Let them smoke as long as it is on their dollar and away from harming anyone else. They can't do that because their addiction harms everyone, expecially the ones closet to them, I.E. their family and expecially their children.

Do Not Ban Smoking. Smoking is disgusting, quite making it comfortable for the smokers. Smokers have been outcast from the main stream I have to laugh when I see smokers standing in subzero cold getting there fix. It is ludicrous that the government in spending millions of tax dollars on smoking shelters. Let them stand in the rain.

These guys risk their lives on the Battlefield everyday! No one has the right to tell anyone else what to do, much less these men and women whether they can smoke or not! Leave them alone and appreciate what they do for this country! Is it not enough that these men and women are regimented and trained to kill and die on the Battlefield for this country of Liberal Fruit-Loops whose only goal it seems to me is to take away the very rights these soldiers fight and die for! I don't know what most other people think, but I do know that there are some very real and serious problems in this country, but instead of trying to solve these problems, these Liberals are more interested in judging other peoples personal habits and legislate against them! It would be funny if it weren't so Pathetic, but these are the same Liberals that want too Legalize the Smoking of Marijuana yet make the smoking of Tobacco Illegal! I have no problem with Liberals trying to Legalize the Smoking of Marijuana, but don't waste mine or your time trying to convince me or yourselves that Marijuana is any less healthy than Tobacco! As a matter of Fact, there's every reason to believe that Marijuana is worse for you than Tobacco is! The Hypocrisy from the Liberal Left-Wing is Deafening! Both are plants that you smoke and that smoke is a known Carcinogen! As a matter of fact I think that maybe American Troops in a Combat Zone should be allowed to Smoke Marijuana along with their Tobacco considering all of the @!$%# that a Combat Soldier goes through! Something that a Left-Wing Liberal would never know about! The first time a Left-Wing Liberal hears the words War or Combat, the first thing they do, like the Cowards they are is find a Microphone and a Camera so, Like The Good Communists They Are, they can Denounce It and Blame America First! Just like what Happened on 9/11/2001 with 3000 Americans Dead, These Liberal Scum-Bags Blamed America First! I will never forget that America Was Attacked First, I Will Never Forget That 3000 American Citizens Were Murdered and I Will Never Forget There Were These Dregs Of Society, The Left-Wing Liberal Scum-Bags Up At Their Usual Podiums Denouncing and Blaming America Again, everyone here knows what I'm talking about! You know them, their excuses, maybe we had no right to invade Afghanistan even though Al-Qaida had just Murdered 3000 Americans, They were given the choice, turn over That Murdering @!$%#er, Osama Bin Laden and his Murdering Deputies or we'll come in try and find him on our own! We never found the Islamo-Fascist Son-Of-A-@!$%#, but at least our American Troops and our Allies are trying, we've killed and/or captured some of the Bastards through no help from some of our own Treasonous Bastards, The Liberal Left-Wing who'll do anything in their power to run our Own United States Military into the ground! I remember the invasion of Iraq, an Action to Which I Was Opposed, but in the Broader Scheme of things what's the Difference? Saddam Hussein, A Despot in every sense of the word is no longer in Power, what a breath of fresh air it must be to no longer be ruled by a Megalomaniacal Murderer whose own Children were said To Be Worse than he was! I'm not saying it's a picnic there now, I'm saying it's better than it ever was before! We paid for some of the sins That The United States Of America may have committed in the Middle East in the past and the American Soldier can Hold His Head High for the Professional Way in Which They Carried Out Their Jobs Both in Afghanistan and in Iraq and I will remember that the American Soldier belongs to one the Most Elite Fighting Force In The World and I Will Always Be Proud Of Them, My Countrymen, Men and Women Who'll Give Their All That We Might All Be Free, Even Those Sleazy Cowards in this Country Who Have A Ferocious Hatred For Our Armed Forces and All They Stand For! These Liberal Scum-Bags should get down on their knees and kiss the boots of these Servicemen and Women but they won't, they're too arrogant for that! It's time for the American to start learning about these Arrogant and Selfish Slugs; Slugs like the Rev. Jeremiah Wright who Preached Hatred of the White Man to Barak Obama for over 20years, he even married the Obama’s and baptized their children, I wonder if Rev. Wright made sure to Baptize them in Hate as well! It was Rev. Wright who took it upon himself to tell as many Blacks, Including Obama of course, that it was the White Led Government Of The United States Of American Who Was Responsible For Infecting The Black Community With HIV-AIDS, I Really Wonder How Much Of That Crazy Bull-@!$%# Barak Obama Believed! Might that be why he's so hip to this Cap & Trade @!$%# that he knows will Break the Back of Every Poor and Middle Class American Black and White when it comes time to pay the Energy Bills like the Electricity Bill!

These guys risk their lives on the Battlefield everyday! No one has the right to tell anyone else what to do, much less these men and women whether they can smoke or not! Leave them alone and appreciate what they do for this country! Is it not enough that these men and women are regimented and trained to kill and die on the Battlefield for this country of Liberal Fruit-Loops whose only goal it seems to me is to take away the very rights these soldiers fight and die for! I don't know what most other people think, but I do know that there are some very real and serious problems in this country, but instead of trying to solve these problems, these Liberals are more interested in judging other peoples personal habits and legislate against them! It would be funny if it weren't so Pathetic, but these are the same Liberals that want too Legalize the Smoking of Marijuana yet make the smoking of Tobacco Illegal! I have no problem with Liberals trying to Legalize the Smoking of Marijuana, but don't waste mine or your time trying to convince me or yourselves that Marijuana is any more or less healthy than Tobacco! As a matter of Fact, there's every reason to believe that Marijuana is worse for you than Tobacco is! The Hypocrisy from the Liberal Left-Wing is Deafening! Both are plants that you smoke and that smoke is a known Carcinogen! As a matter of fact I think that maybe American Troops in a Combat Zone should be allowed to Smoke Marijuana along with their Tobacco considering all of the @!$%# that a Combat Soldier goes through! Something that a Left-Wing Liberal would never know about! The first time a Left-Wing Liberal hears the words War or Combat, the first thing they do, like the Cowards they are is find a Microphone and a Camera so, Like The Good Communists They Are, they can Denounce It and Blame America First! Just like what Happened on 9/11/2001 with 3000 Americans Dead, These Liberal Scum-Bags Blamed America First! I will never forget that America Was Attacked First, I Will Never Forget That 3000 American Citizens Were Murdered and I Will Never Forget There Were These Dregs Of Society, The Left-Wing Liberal Scum-Bags Up At Their Usual Podiums Denouncing and Blaming America Again, everyone here knows what I'm talking about! You know them, their excuses, "maybe we had no right to invade Afghanistan even though Al-Qaida had just Murdered 3000 Americans", They were given the choice, turn over That Murdering @!$%#er, Osama Bin Laden and his Murdering Deputies or we'll come in an try and find him on our own! We never found the Islamo-Fascist Son-Of-A-@!$%#, but at least our American Troops and our Allies are trying, we've killed and/or captured some of the Bastards through no help from some of our own Treasonous Bastards, The Liberal Left-Wing who'll do anything in their power to run our Own United States Military into the ground! I remember the invasion of Iraq, an Action to Which I Was Opposed, but in the Broader Scheme of things what's the Difference? Saddam Hussein, A Despot in every sense of the word is no longer in Power, what a breath of fresh air it must be to no longer be ruled by a Megalomaniacal Murderer whose own Children were said To Be Worse than he was! I'm not saying it's a picnic there now, I'm saying it's better than it ever was before! We paid for some of the sins That The United States Of America may have committed in the Middle East in the past with Sweat and Blood and the American Soldier can Hold His Head High for the Professional Way in Which They Carried Out Their Jobs Both in Afghanistan and in Iraq and I will remember that the American Soldier belongs to one the Most Elite Fighting Forces In The World and I Will Always Be Proud Of Them, My Countrymen, Men and Women Who'll Give Their All That We Might All Be Free, Even Those Sleazy Cowards in this Country Who Have A Ferocious Hatred For Our Armed Forces and All They Stand For! These Liberal Scum-Bags should get down on their knees and kiss the boots of these Servicemen and Women but they won't, they're too arrogant for that! It's time for the American to start learning about these Arrogant and Selfish Slugs; Slugs like the Rev. Jeremiah Wright who Preached Hatred of the White Man to Barak Obama for over 20years, he even married the Obama’s and baptized their children, I wonder if Rev. Wright made sure to Baptize them in Hatred as well! It was Rev. Wright who took it upon himself to tell as many Blacks, Including Obama of course, that it was the White Led Government Of The United States Of America Who Was Responsible For Infecting The Black Community With HIV-AIDS, I Really Wonder How Much Of That Crazy Bull-@!$%# Barak Obama Believed! Might that be why he's so hip to this Cap & Trade @!$%# that he knows will Break the Back of Every Poor and Middle Class American Black and White when it comes time to pay the Energy Bills like the Electricity Bill!

Everyone has a right to his or her own choice--but not at the expense of others.

The military has made great strides to create a smoke-free environment for non-smokers, and to portect the non-smokers from the effects of smoke. However, the efforts should go further--the government, specifically tax payers, should not be footing the medical bills due to self-inflicted health problems. If you smoke, you foot the bill for your own, smoke-related illnesses. Same goes for alcohol-related illnesses.

when will the comfortable cowards of america have enough of washington taking more and more of our freedoms away. whats next...telling me what to wear?eat?drink?
when do the riots start?

You can see by the 16% that strongly agree and agree, just how many people they want to control. The other 84%, that strongly disagree and disagree, isn't that something? It's always the minority that want to control the majority. The problem is that the majority usually let's them get away with it. It's the same ideas at work, whether its this, taking tobacco away, because it's too dangerous to be smoking in a war zone. LOL Or making medical marijuana against the law, and locking up sick people for trying to make their lives a little more comfortable. It's all for the control of the masses. Sometimes stupidly. People have still not learned to use a pen and their vote, to gain back control of the Congress and the Senate. You do that by writing them, (Your Representatives) and telling them what you want. People are doing that here, aren't they? Giving their point of view. I've learned to send a copy. I keep email addresses of my Representatives, and when I get a subject like this come up. I send a copy of my point of view about the subject to them. I let them know how ridiculous it is to keep men and woman in a war zone from smoking, because it's dangerous and bad for their health. I think being shot and blown-up is a lot less healthier. You can make a skit on Saturday Night Live about this. It's so laughable. I am an ex-smoker, and Viet Nam Era, Navy Veteran, and don't think they should stop them from smoking.

Lets try this.

Lets have 2 wars.

One for the smokers and one for the non-smokers.

Send all the smokers to Afganistan and all the non-smokers to Iraq

Derp..Derp

See ....this sounds as stupid as the idea to ban smoking in the military

Just my .02

why should I pay higher taxes for VA hospital care that is tobacco-related? Service-related, that's fine, but not caused by tobacco abuse.

nicotine keeps you awake and makes you more alert plus it appears to relax people- why take this awayfrom our military[no-i dont smoke!!]--will "they" mandate this for "truckers" next??? any body besides me getting sick of "mandates" in this "transparent" presidency?????

Here we go again - the smoke NAZIs are trying like hell to further remove the rights of the people. This time, they're going too far. What is going to happen when re-enlistment drops significantly and the US doesn't have a military force to protect it? Does anyone in their right mind think that those same smoke nazis who have now recruited Gates will line up to go to the front? There's no way!!! Their only option will be to use stop loss and keep those serving in against their will.

All this for products that are LEGAL. People sometimes forget - with assistance from the weirdos who are attempting to limit the freedom of those who protect our freedoms - that this country and its economy was built on tobacco!!!

Its legal in this country to smoke so what is the problem., I dont smoke but i surely give the man or the woman who is on the line of fire for this country the right to smoke. Changes of dying from bullet are far greater than changes from smoking. But of course there are those bureaucrats in the office who have to greate these what i call feel good programs, usually before elections.  Regards. Unski

This is evil. How dare they? To refuse a dying man or someone who's just seen their buddy blown to bits a cigarette! Someone who lays his life down for us every day! DISGUSTING!!!

This is evil! How dare they? Refuse a cigarette to a dying man or someone who's just seen their buddy blown to bits? These people lay their lives on the line for their country every day! Also, how is this legal? DISGUSTING!!!!