| The Tobacco Reference Guide
|
| by David Moyer, MD. |
| Chapter 26 Tobacco and the military |
| tobacco reference guideg (artefact pour |
| Tobacco and the military: Military store pricing issues |
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| Cigarette sales at military stores totaled more than $700,000,000 in 1990. |
| Navy Times, 1991 |
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| In 1986, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger overruled a decision by his assistant |
| secretary for health affairs to eliminate discounts on cigarette purchase in military |
| stores. Military groups had protested that this would have provided a "dangerous |
| precedent" for cuts in other benefits. Then-Surgeon General C. Everett Koop |
| commented: "How could this be viewed as a reduction in benefits, when the only |
| benefits would be a lifetime of illness and early death?" |
| Associated Press, February 27, 1986 and Koop, p. 178 |
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| "It's time for the Pentagon to ...raise the price of tobacco products in military stores to |
| match those of civilian retailers, and divert the extra income to military-sponsored |
| fitness programs. The signal sent to military people would be strong and clear." |
| Navy Times editorial, June 17, 1991 |
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| Selling discount cigarettes to members of the armed services encourages smoking |
| and costs the Pentagon nearly a billion dollars a year in tobacco-related health and |
| work expenses. |
| Associated Press, November 12, 1996 |
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| The military "commissary benefit" provides savings averaging 23% over outside retail |
| stores on hundreds of items. However, the discount approaches 60 percent on |
| tobacco products. The Pentagon says that is up to Congress to raise military tobacco |
| prices, but Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico) says that the Defense |
| Department "has the authority to change this tomorrow morning." |
| Common Cause magazine, Fall 1995 |
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| Page 8 of 15 |
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