[Pontiac]

Why not neither? I work with an ex-submariner and he doesn't use tobacco in any form. Doesn't seem to hurt him.

I am not an advocate of tobacco use. Personally for the most part I am against it.

I am an advocate of freedom and liberty.

The men and women in the Navy surrender a great deal of liberty to serve their country, they do so by free choice. They freely choose to put their lives at risk to protect the freedom of this country.

The men and women currently serving in the Navy joined before this policy was put in place I do not believe it is fair to place this restriction on them ex post facto.

In general I do not believe it is within the powers of the Federal Government to restrict the use of tobacco at all. However the powers of the Executive over the armed forces are for the most part limitless.

But back to my original post and your comment I have seen it happen numerous times. When a smoker has for whatever reason been prevented from smoking he (in all instance it has been a man) has satisfied his addiction with chewing or snuff tobacco.

Having known more than my share of sailors I have no doubts that they having been prevented from smoking will begin chewing or dipping. I few may quit but the percentage will be small.

Just chew gum. That won't offend anyone.

If there is one thing that sailors (Squids especially) don’t worry about is offending people.

And by the way; I do find gum chewing offensive. My kids where never permitted to chew gum in my presence.

[truthguy]

I am an advocate of freedom and liberty.

Me too, that's why I think people should be free of cigarette smoke. We all have to give up a little absolute freedom when others are affected. I can't turn my stereo up to Maximum @ 3:00AM! I can't drive 100mph on the Freeways. I can't do many things that would affect others. That's where I draw the line. I guess many smokers have forgotten just how offensive it is for non-smokers to have to breath and smell the smoke. On a surface ship you can probably go outside and smoke. The winds will remove the smoke and nobody is offended. But a submarine is akin to an airliner. The air is recirculated and the smoke permeates the entire boat. Many sailors have complained about this. On a long voyage this can be very irritating and affect the performance of the crew.