By Roderick McClain
09-08-10 – Last month, a loophole in federal legislation made it illegal to mail tobacco products to deployed service members. That loophole has since been fixed but concerns about military tobacco use remain.
A 2009 report commissioned by the Department of Defense found smoking rates at 32% for active military and 22% for veterans. That compares to just 20% of the adult civilian population. Erika Sward is the Director of National Advocacy for the American Lung Association. She says the highest rates of smoking nationwide occur for soldiers and marines between the ages of 18 and 25.
"We know that kids are going over to Iraq and Afghanistan not smoking, but that during the height of the Iraq conflict more than 50 percent of all active duty personnel stationed in Iraq smoked."
While the military offers tax-free tobacco products to service members, the Navy & Marine Corps Public Health Center estimates the US spends $930 million dollars per year on smoking-related healthcare and decreased productivity during smoke breaks.
Contacts from Camp Lejeune and the Department of Veterans Affairs outreach clinic in Wilmington declined interviews for this story.