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• Researchers Study PTSD, Smoking Link For Soldiers 

A new University of Wisconsin study set to begin in January is aiming to help troops coping with post-traumatic stress disorder to overcome smoking when they return home.

The study by the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention has a goal of helping soldiers kick their smoking habit.

"A lot of time that you were exhausted and you needed to have some time out," said veteran Deeann Hansen. "We were on a road march and when we were told to stop we were allowed to take a break, and the comment was made to us that, 'Smoke 'em if you got 'em,' and if you don't they told us to pick up cigarette butts and trash."

Studies show Hansen isn't the only one to leave the military addicted to tobacco. It's something she blamed on the high stress load of life in the services.

Around 7 million U.S. vets suffer from PTSD and more than half smoke -- and that statistic is sparking some research.

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• Tobacco czar maps new agency's path 

Today Dr. Lawrence Deyton, who at 57 still goes by his childhood nickname of "Bopper," is the nation's first anti-smoking czar. He directs a new agency in the federal Food and Drug Administration -- the Center for Tobacco Products -- that is writing rules to govern the previously unregulated tobacco industry.

In last week's interview, Deyton twice stressed that he is not an anti-tobacco zealot.

"I am not an expert in tobacco," he said. "But I am an expert in public health, and I am an expert in government health programs."

And what Deyton promises is "methodical, science-based tobacco regulation."

But Deyton already has been greeted with worry from growers in tobacco-producing states like Kentucky, and three lawsuits from the industry challenging the agency's authority to restrict advertising and marketing.

The center was created under a sweeping anti-smoking law passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on June 22.

Its three key goals are to reduce youth smoking rates, which in recent years have leveled off at about 20 percent; to reduce the overall toll of tobacco-related disease, which annually kills more than 400,000 Americans; and to provide the public with information about the ingredients of tobacco products and their health effects.

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• New York Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) Join As Co-Sponsors of The Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act 

Today, Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) hailed the support of Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) who have signed on as co-sponsors of a bill to establish the first ever multi-agency, comprehensive program targeted at lung cancer.

Entitled Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act of 2009, S.332 authorizes a five year program to reduce the mortality rate of lung cancer which continues to be the number one cause of cancer deaths both nationally and in New York State. Lung cancer causes more deaths each year than breast, prostate, colon, kidney, melanoma and liver cancers combined.

"Lung cancer affects millions of men and women everyday and we must do everything we can to fund ways to combat this deadly disease," said Senator Schumer. "I am proud to sign onto this legislation to help promote earlier detection and better disease management to improve cancer survival rates in New York State and across the country." . . .

To insure accountability, the bill requires an annual report to Congress and creates an oversight board composed of the three Cabinet Secretaries and representatives from the fields of lung cancer treatment, research and advocacy.

In addition, the bill directs the Secretaries of Department of Defense (DOD) and Veterans' Affairs (VA) to implement an early detection and disease management program for military personnel who are at high risk for lung cancer because of smoking or exposure to carcinogens during active duty.

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• Smoking in the military: An old habit dies hard  

Defense Secretary Robert Gates seems to agree.

"He knows that the situation they are confronting is stressful enough as it is," said his press secretary, Geoff Morrell. "I don't think he is interested in adding to the stress levels by taking away one of the few outlets they may have to relieve stress."

He said Gates is not planning any ban, but is reviewing the study by the Institute of Medicine, which provides independent advice to policymakers, health professionals and the public, to see if steps can be taken toward having a smoke-free force some day.

U.S. military personnel and veterans interviewed by The Associated Press had strong opinions about life in the military without cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco.

Some said it would cut medical costs and make the force healthier, while eliminating smoking breaks would increase productivity. Others said it would dampen morale and reduce recruitment to the all-volunteer military.

Nearly all, however, said it was impractical and probably would never happen.

"It's an outrage," said Staff Sgt. Joe Dunn, 32. "I've been smoking for about 15 years and being forced to stop -- not on my own terms -- is something I'd have a hard time dealing with." . . .

"They've been talking about this for over 10 years now. Nothing has ever happened," said Fink, a Navy veteran and employee at the VA hospital in Nashville. A ban would drive people out of the military, he said, and "the military can't afford to lose anyone."

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• Study: Smoking Lessens Taste Over Time  

A new study confirms what has already been likely known to most smokers - cigarettes lessen taste buds' abilities over time.

Greek scientists studied 62 Greek soldiers' tongues using electrical stimulation to test the taste threshold of the men and endoscopes to measure the number and shape of a certain taste bud. . . .The study was published in the journal BMC Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders.

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• Study: In 1991, tobacco companies saw war as a marketing opportunity 

A study published in July in the American Journal of Public Health looked at internal tobacco company documents to determine if marketing efforts were aimed at servicemembers during the Gulf War.

Researchers found tobacco companies saw the conflict as a commercial opportunity and targeted servicemembers with free cigarettes, direct advertising, phone cards and homecoming parties.

The military, which often viewed the tobacco companies as benefactors, restricted the activity at times but frequently allowed it, according to “Everywhere the Soldier will Be: Wartime Tobacco Promotion in the U.S.”

Tobacco companies began producing and shipping free cigarettes within the first month of the war.

One company sent 10,000 cartons via the Department of Defense and others were on deck with 42,000 before the DOD acknowledged the free cigarettes were against policy and blocked further shipments, according to the study’s two researchers, Elizabith Smith and Ruth Malone . . .

Barred from providing free cigarettes, tobacco companies turned to branded merchandise such as baseball caps and playing cards.

“RJ Reynolds noted that ‘troops in Saudi Arabia definitely know that Camel Joe is behind them’ as they had received ‘over 5,000 packs of Camel playing cards … [and] a variety of premium items including sunglasses, audio cassettes and cup cozies,’” the study said. . . .

Philip Morris executives said they were “keenly interested in capitalizing on the successful military operation” and “continuing the association we started last year with the troops.”

“Over forty locations now have welcome home signs in place featuring Marlboro brand identification,” a military sales manager said in June 1991, according to the study. The company also produced the largest homecoming event for Desert Storm at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and similar events in Germany featured “extensive signage for Marlboro,” the study said.

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• Recommended tobacco ban for military is a difficult proposition 

Calls for a ban on tobacco use in the military — a habit that medical experts say saps servicemember health and drains billions in public dollars annually — are growing loud this summer, but the fate of any new regulation is uncertain at best. . . .

The DOD will consider the tobacco recommendations — including immediate bans for new officers and enlisted personnel enforced by urine testing — when it convenes its Medical and Personnel Council in a few months, Smith said.

The board could eventually make tobacco-use recommendations to the secretary of defense. New regulations would require the cooperation of the U.S. Congress, according to the Institute of Medicine.

Sgt. Fred Pedro, an Army recruiter in Albany, N.Y., said the policy of no tobacco in basic training already makes some potential recruits hesitate, and a military-wide ban — enforced by urine testing — could turn off even more prospective enlistees. . . .

The Institute of Medicine and the American Lung Association both back a phased-in elimination of tobacco beginning with a ban on all use among those entering the military.

Both groups also said military tobacco sales are a barrier to cutting use and should be curbed. . . .

So far, nobody has called a ban on tobacco use at West Point, but the anti-tobacco message is pushed to cadets throughout their time at the academy, Polao said.

The result is older cadets tend to make the decision to abstain from smoking and tobacco — and pressure younger cadets to do the same, she said.

Studies indicate enlisted servicemembers are more likely to use tobacco, and some in the enlisted ranks baulk at a ban.

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• Involuntary cold turkey: Tobacco in short supply at bases in Italy 

The shelves of the Army and Air Force Exchange and Defense Commissary Agency outlets in Vicenza and Aviano are largely bare of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco — with only a few brands left in most locations.

The shortage is caused by a lack of tobacco shipments from Italian ports, officials said.

Previously, Italian carabinieri had escorted the shipments to Vicenza, Aviano and Camp Darby, AAFES-Europe spokesman Lt. Col. Wayne Marotto said. But they’re no longer doing that, and AAFES is working with various agencies to come up with a solution.

Until a solution is found, the tobacco will stay where it is.

Since AAFES supplies DECA with tobacco in northern Italy, they’re both affected.

Faced with budget shortages and limited personnel, the carabinieri have decided they don’t need to provide such escorts any more, said Col. Daniele Benvenuti, head of the Gruppo Carabinieri Southern European Task Force based in Vicenza.

Benvenuti said escorting cigarette shipments is not seen as a high priority, given all the missions they have to accomplish.

“We are a military police force. The escorting of cigarettes is not a military function. It never should have been,”

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We are a military police force. The escorting of cigarettes is not a military function. It never should have been.
Col. Daniele Benvenuti, head of the Gruppo Carabinieri Southern European Task Force, which has stopped escorting cigarette shipments from Italian ports to US military bases.

• | Russian army rations to swap cigarettes for candy: general  

Russia will no longer include free cigarettes in its food rations for servicemen but will compensate by providing them with candy, a top general said Thursday.

"We are no longer buying cigarettes for the armed forces and are replacing them with caramel and sugar," Lieutenant-General Dmitry Bulgakov was quoted by news agencies as saying.

He specified however that Russia was not banning smoking in the military.

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• Mixed Messages Complicate Efforts to Ban Smoking in Military  

Another mixed message from the military: it offers smoking cessation programs but also subsidizes tobacco products for troops who buy them at base exchanges and commissaries -- troops can buy them at 5 percent below market price.

Further complicating the mixed messages are federal policies that prohibit smoking in and around federal buildings, including the Pentagon. The policies, which were first enacted under President Clinton, were strengthened last month to ban smoking in the courtyards of federal buildings and within 25 feet of doorways.

"I think that's part of the issue. There are conflicting messages being sent," said Kenneth Kizer, a health care consultant and former undersecretary for health in the Veteran Affairs Department.

"It's confusing," he said, explaining that mixed messages undermine efforts to change patterns of behavior. "It tends to reinforce behaviors that you want to extinguish." . . .

"We do support the goal of a tobacco-free military," Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith told FOXNews.com. "But we understand it's a national issue. We can't change unless the society as a whole changes."

Tobacco use costs the Pentagon substantially: $846 million a year, as well as lost productivity, according to the study, and the Department of Veterans Affairs spends up to $6 billion in treatments for tobacco-related illnesses.

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• Pentagon won't ban war-zone smoking, despite study 

Smoke 'em if you got 'em. The Pentagon reassured troops Wednesday that it won't ban tobacco products in war zones. Defense officials hadn't actually planned to eliminate smoking — at least for now. But fear of a ban arose among some troops after the Defense Department received a study recommending the military move toward becoming tobacco-free — perhaps in about 20 years.

Press secretary Geoff Morrell pointedly told a Pentagon news conference that Defense Secretary Robert Gates is not planning to prohibit the use of cigarettes, chewing tobacco or other tobacco products by troops in combat.

"He knows that the situation they are confronting is stressful enough as it is," Morrell said, noting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I don't think he is interested in adding to the stress levels by taking away one of the few outlets they may have to relieve stress."

Gates will review the new study to see if there are some things than can be done to work toward the goal of having a smoke-free force some day, Morrell said.

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• DEBATE: Our view on tobacco in the military: How to curb soldiers' smoking / Opposing view: Leave smoking perk alone 

• PS2 News: Video Game To Battle Rising Tobacco Use Amongst US Soldiers 

Sometimes, fresh ideas pop up that make the gaming crowd go, "...huh?"

It seems the rate of tobacco use amongst soldiers in the US Army is rising, and therefore, it has been suggested that a researcher from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center create a video game to battle this unfortunate increase. They have a budget of $3.7 million to create the game and Alexander Prokhorov, MD, PhD, and professor in M.D. Anderson's behavioral science department, is already working on it. He said:

"The tobacco use rates in the Army are alarming - 38 percent of service members smoke cigarettes and 15 percent use smokeless tobacco. Wars boosted the use of tobacco. Research shows tobacco use in the military increased during World War II...Tobacco is typically regarded by young people as a dull subject. The video game-based education program is anything but boring. It provides a highly interactive, engaging and exciting experience."

It's an intriguing idea and of course, the good doctor reminds us all that tobacco "may increase fatigue, dull the senses and cause shortness of breath." The game will be called Project Combat and 2,000 troops in Fort Hood, Texas will be the first to test it out.

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• Ban on tobacco urged in military 

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." . . .

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.

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• Debate swirls over smoking in Air Force homes  

Some Air Force base housing residents in the Pacific say they wish their commands would offer them the option of smoke-free housing.

Others — smokers and nonsmokers alike — believe the military shouldn’t have any say in whether people can smoke in the privacy of their personal, albeit government-provided, home.

The issue came up at a Yokota Air Base town hall meeting earlier this year after residents there learned that Misawa Air Base would ban smoking in its family housing apartment towers starting May 1. During the meeting, several residents said they have neighbors’ cigarette smoke flowing into their homes and asked if the base could ban smoking in the towers.

Misawa officials said they instituted the ban because they weren’t in compliance with an Air Force instruction that states "the rights of the nonsmokers will prevail." They’ve since added other types of housing units to the ban and set the goal of making the majority of housing smoke-free as units undergo renovations.

The instruction, titled "Tobacco Use in the Air Force," gives commanders the authority to "designate areas or buildings in dormitories or family housing smoke-free when there is a common air-handling unit for multiple individuals or families ... to ensure a healthy and safe environment for all residents."

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