Smoking on Rise Among U.S. Troops in Iraq

Health officials are concerned that the smoking rate among the more than 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq is skyrocketing, as more soldiers use cigarettes to combat stress, boredom, and loneliness, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Aug. 29.

Although the Department of Defense has no figures on the smoking rates among deployed troops, returning personnel report high smoking rates. Dennis Amundson, a Navy captain and pulmonologist who returned from Iraq in July 2003, said the number of soldiers and Marines he saw smoking "was shocking."

"The cigarette became important to them," said Amundson, a member of the board of the American Lung Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties.

In addition to providing comfort, Amundson said cigarette smoking is a social activity among soldiers.

Health officials said informing soldiers that their increased smoking could lead to serious health problems later in life is a tough sell, because the reality is that combat troops are more worried about making it alive to tomorrow.

Debra Kelley, vice president of government relations for the California Lung Association, said the military should address the problem by making cigarettes more expensive and less socially acceptable.

"That's part of the challenge that the military has not risen to," she said.

According to military officials, smoking is prohibited in barracks and in military offices. In addition, smoking-cessation programs are available.

Source: www.jointogether.org