Navy moves to ban smoking on submarines

Earlier this week I noted that some health officials are unsure how effective outdoor smoking bans may be: Since few studies have examined how much outside air dilutes cigarette smoke, it's not clear how much such bans actually protect people's health. The benefits of indoor smoking bans, however, have been well-documented. A 2010 study in the Oxford Journal of Nicotine and Tobacco Research determined: "Indoor smoking bans are an effective means of improving indoor and outdoor air quality in pubs and bars, although the air quality of smoke-free indoor areas may be compromised by smoking in adjacent outdoor areas." Similarly, according to The Nation's Health, " An Institute of Medicine report released in October concluded that indoor smoking bans reduce heart attack risk among both smokers and nonsmokers. Also, a study published in the Oct. 6 issue of Circulation found a drop in heart attack hospital admission rates in areas with indoor smoking bans, with such health benefits growing over time."

Therefore, it's welcome news that the U.S. Navy has moved to ban smoking below the decks on its submarines, beginning Dec. 31. The Navy initiated the ban based on similar findings to other indoor smoking bans: Secondhand smoke negatively affects the health those who choose not to smoke. It commissioned a study, following a 2006 surgeon general's report on the negative effects of smoking, that found its sailors who didn't smoke were indeed showing the medical effects of secondhand smoke exposure. "This policy was initiated for the health of the sailors who choose not to smoke,"  Lt. Commander Mark Jones, spokesman for the Commander Naval Submarine Forces in Norfolk, Virginia, told CNN. "It is unfair for them to be exposed to the unhealthy side effects of secondhand smoke." Jones said a recent Navy poll found that about 30-40 percent of  Navy sailors on submarine duty are smokers.

Many people reacted negatively toward the news, saying the smoking ban would likely be hard for sailors who use cigarettes as a stress-reliever, and who rely on them for comfort after a hard day at sea - not to mention that cigarettes are a big part of the iconic image Americans associate with military men. But the military, like any other workplace, has an obligation to protect its employees from health risks, and exposure to cigarette smoke is certainly that. It seems only logical that if people are forbidden from smoking on planes - enclosed vehicles that go up in the air - that they'd also be forbidden from smoking in enclosed vehicles that go underwater.

Photo credit: U.S. Navy