Work

A National Survey of Cigarette Prices at Military Retail Outlets

Year: 2011

Type: article

Abstract: Smoking among military personnel impedes readiness and results in poorer job performance and substantial costs from smoking-related illness and absenteeism.1 Smoking rates among junior enlisted personnel remain higher than the general population, leading the Department of Defense to take steps to reduce tobacco use.2 In 2005, the Department of Defense Instruction 1330.9 mandated that prices for tobacco products sold in US military retail outlets be “no lower than 5 percent below the most competitive commercial prices in the local community” to “communicate to Service members that tobacco use is detrimental to health and readiness.” The Instruction was intended to equalize the cost to consumers, including taxes. No studies address the Instruction’s effect on tobacco pricing, although military personnel believe cigarettes are sold at deeply discounted prices.3 We investigated cigarette prices at military retail outlets compared with the local market.

Source: JAMA

DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.1774

Authors: Sara A. Jahnke, Christopher K. Haddock, W. S. Carlos Poston, Melissa L. Hyder, Harry Lando

Institutions: National Development and Research Institutes, University of Minnesota

Language: English

Topic: Smoking Behavior and Cessation

Subfield: Physiology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: Vanderbilt University, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Cancer Institute