Air Force Takes First Major Steps to Ban Smoking on Base
Monday April 30, 2007
As part of an overall Air Force plan to dramatically reduce tobacco use by the year 2010, the Air Force Material Command will soon start a three-phase program that will eventually eliminate the use of tobacco products at all ten of its bases, according to an article in the Stars & Stripes.
The first phase of the AFMC program is banning tobacco use by personnel in uniform. Bans in dorms and government housing would follow, with the final phase being the elimination of such products on base.
Comments
Good move, I have never understood why the commissary sold tobacco products when there has been such a big campaign to reduce or eliminate tobacco use by the Surgeon General. It is not unusal to see one person buy many cartons of cigarettes during their visit to the commissary or the BX/PX.
So, this cuts those of us whom served a career in the Air Force out on our installations. Don’t you think that not giving us our FREE Medical for life as we were told isn’t enough? You need to speak with the many hundreds of thousands of Vets before you set policies like this!
How about banning alcohol on base, that’s a pretty dangerous thing as well. We’ve given up enough freedoms to serve and now this crap too? I’m done.
I agree about the alcohol. Smoking doesn’t lead to brawls, drunk driving, spouse abuse, or cirrhosis. Seems a little hypocritical to ban tobacco on base while alchohol and porn are sold there. My son and many of his friends in Air Force tech school are smokers. For them, tobacco is already banned on base. Their solution? Walk off base to smoke or sneak snuff into their dorm rooms to satisfy the nicotine craving. Recently an unannounced inspection turned up lots of contriband snuff. Not sure what the “punishment” will be, but I think these guys have more important things to worry about.