Navy Boosts Efforts to Cut Tobacco Use

Cutting tobacco use among military personnel includes a range of activities in each of the military branches and hundreds of installations. Yet recent action by the Secretary of the Navy has taken the focus on tobacco cessation to a new level.

As part of a broader wellness strategy aimed at improving readiness, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus launched a three-pronged initiative to prevent and reduce tobacco use in the Navy and the Marine Corps through changes to the services’ tobacco policy. To curb availability, the Secretary’s order will end the discounted prices of cigarettes and other tobacco products sold at base commissaries and exchanges. Making tobacco products more expensive to service members provides a strong incentive to quit, especially for young enlisted personnel whose tight budgets are stretched by high rates of tobacco use. This move also puts an end to the mixed message of urging service members to quit tobacco while making it easier to get.

For tobacco users who want to quit, the Navy is making smoking cessation materials available to all personnel at no cost. Many Active Duty U.S. military personnel have access to free medications and other tobacco cessation services through their military treatment facility. However, the new Navy policy removes uncertainty and creates a level playing field.

The call for an information and education campaign including formal training as part of Navy and Marine Corps recruit training creates a focus on prevention. It targets tobacco’s deep roots in military culture as well as the high rates of use among 18- to 25-year-old Sailors and Marines many of whom start using tobacco after they enter the service.

The latest Navy rules on tobacco point the way to a new professional environment. They recognize tobacco’s harmful effects—not just in the future but now in the form of downtime, health care expenses, and reduced readiness. Finally, changes that address tobacco availability, prevention, and treatment speak to the need for a stance that is clear, consistent, and comprehensive.

Quit Tobacco—Make Everyone Proud applauds the Navy initiative and backs it with tools to help military health promotion personnel get the word out and to help service members move ahead to a tobacco-free future.