Benny said:
Well, obviously. I'm not talking about things that are already illegal as there's nothing to discuss. It does raise the point that someone smoking in a car is at least partially distracted and cannot maintain both hands on the wheel. Does that make a more dangerous driver? Certainly not as bad as a drunk one, but I'd still say yes.
I'm not going to refer to you in person here, but in general, yes. The health damage is clear and known for decades. It WILL affect a soldiers effectiveness by simply reducing their fitness.
You don't have to be able to see it with the unaided eye for nvgs to show it. That's the issue. As soon as darkness falls it is impossible to know. The old trick of hiding the lit ciggie in a 50cal expended cartridge doesn't work anymore. It still shows up and you will never know, nor will your buddies who can't see it, but the enemy OP will be well aware...
FWIW, I'm not out to ban it in total, just keep it away from work, and discourage it in general. As much as I would not want someone drinking on duty (or showing the effects of previous drinking), I wouldn't want them smoking either.
Good lord, where to begin??
1) The jump made between illegal drunk driving is akin to the argument in this thread that suggested that smokers addiction to that legal substance led to addictions to illegal substances. Now, alcohol can be an addiction, therefore the leap to someone who consumes alcohol legally ... being susceptible to committing that next phase in the process which is drunk-driving. Give it up. Most of us are smart enough to obey the law. A smoker is no more susceptible to move up to using illegal drugs than a drinker is to committing drunk driving. That's the comparison there.
2) Yes!! Two hands on the wheel at all times. Let's ban all those issued blackberries and cell phones while we're at it!! Just so we can ensure they never have a hand off the wheel. :
Geez, better yet, let's just be smart about it and practise that defensive driving that the CF teaches us OK?? Oh, and BTW, last time I checked, one couldn't be driving a military vehicle while on duty and smoking at the same time ... that would be illegal wouldn't it?
3) The health damage is clear and known for decades. When the heck did I ever say it wasn't?? But hell, so is cholesterol (which, I believe, is under no threat of ban for use by CF members ~Timmies would lose a friggin' fortune wouldn't they?) Red meat is available in a Mess Hall near you right now and it's known to be bad for you. As is sugar. As are calories. All available for soldiers consumption during duty hours. Do you get the point yet??
4) It will affect a soldiers effectiveness by simply reducing their fitness?? Is that your reasoning for the ban? Because if that's all you've got and you think that justifies it, I got a little tidbit of info for you here ... I am in shape. Much better shape than a heck of a lot of nonsmokers I know. So, I'm going to cut them off the Timmies and the cholesterol (because that must be the cause of it). But now I can't really be too sure about exactly what the cause of it is ... because they aren't overweight. Don't worry, I guarantee you'll never have to hump my ruck or parts of my kit for me, but this evil smoker has done just that for some others ... including a couple male nonsmokers. Want to talk cardio?? Ante up your end-time for a 5km swim (no breaks ... no touching the walls or the pool bottom) and we'll see who comes out on top. The assumptions you make about someones fitness level amaze me.
5) Good gawd, the night vision thing again?? Have you actually read the posts?? Smokers know when to smoke and when not to, just because we smoke doesn't mean that we're going to risk your life to the enemy. Get a grip, we are more professional than that and, as I said before, it's a tired old argument. We decided many posts ago that this has been widely known by us CF members for years now and is really nothing new.
6) OK just keep it away from work ... that's a switch up, but guess what?? It still doesn't address the underlying issue of the Mess Halls serving up proven-to-be-unhealthy-items 3 times a day to the troops living in. It's the same damn thing. And, I hope you're not a Timmies S/S, D/D, or T/T (or whatever combo preferred) drinker either because by default, they should also be kept away from the workplace and discouraged.
