Cigarette prices in military retail: a review and proposal for advancing military health policy

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and has been shown to significantly harm the combat readiness of military personnel. Unfortunately, recent research showed that cigarettes are sold at substantial discounts in military retail outlets. In fact, the military is...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMilitary medicine Vol. 178; no. 5; pp. 563 - 569
Main Authors Haddock, Christopher K, Jahnke, Sara A, Poston, Walker S C, Williams, Larry N
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Oxford University Press 01.05.2013
Subjects
Armed forces
Cardiovascular disease
Cigarettes
Costs and Cost Analysis
Health care expenditures
Health care policy
Health Policy
Humans
Military Medicine - methods
Military personnel
Military withdrawals
Prices
Pricing policies
Retail stores
Smoking
Smoking - economics
Tobacco
Tobacco Industry - economics
Tobacco Products - economics
Tobacco Use Disorder - economics
United States
United States
United States > US
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Summary:Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and has been shown to significantly harm the combat readiness of military personnel. Unfortunately, recent research showed that cigarettes are sold at substantial discounts in military retail outlets. In fact, the military is the only retailer that consistently loses money on tobacco. Cheap tobacco prices have been identified by enlisted personnel and Department of Defense health policy experts as promoting a culture of tobacco use in the U.S. Military. This article provides an analysis of why current military tobacco pricing policy has failed to eliminate cheap tobacco prices as an incentive for use. A rationale for increasing tobacco prices also is presented along with recommendations for improved military tobacco control policy.
ISSN:0026-4075
1930-613X
DOI:10.7205/MILMED-D-12-00517