Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Dec;176(12):1382-7.
doi: 10.7205/milmed-d-11-00164.

Military tobacco policies: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Affiliations

Military tobacco policies: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Sara A Jahnke et al. Mil Med. 2011 Dec.

Abstract

The United States military has the legacy of a pro-tobacco culture and still has prevalence rates of tobacco use that are higher than their civilian counterparts. One tactic for decreasing use and the subsequent health problems is through effective tobacco control policies. We collected available tobacco control policies from all four branches of the military and, through qualitative analysis, identified policies that were unique either as providing more or less detail and restriction than peer group policies. Best and worst practice policies in the areas of enforcement, smoking cessation, smokeless tobacco use, environmental tobacco smoke, framing tobacco as non-normative, designated tobacco use areas, and monitoring of tobacco use are presented. Because policy making can be an effective tool for improving the health of military members, understanding what policy components are comparatively positive or negative is an important tool for health advocates both in the military and civilian settings.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Bray RM, Pemberton MR, Hourani LL, et al. Department of Defense Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Active Duty Military Personnel. Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI International; 2008. 2009.
    1. Nelson JP, Pederson LL. Military tobacco use: a synthesis of literature on prevalence, factors related to use, and cessation interventions. Nicotine Tob Res. 2008;10:775–90. - PubMed
    1. Poston WSC, Taylor JE, Hoffman KM, et al. Smoking and deployment: perspectives of junior-enlisted U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army personnel and their supervisors. Mil Med. 2008;173:441–7. - PubMed
    1. Haddock CK, Taylor JE, Hoffman KM, et al. Factors which influence tobacco use among junior enlisted in the United States Army and Air Force: a formative research study. Am J Health Promotion. 2009;23(4):241–6. - PubMed
    1. Smith EA, Malone RE. “Everywhere the soldier will be”: wartime tobacco promotion in the US military. Am J Public Health. 2009;99:1595–602. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Substances