| Abstract |
Tobacco use is the single most important preventable cause of disease, death, and disability in the United States as a whole, and in the military (Wright, Knapik, Bielenda & Zoltick, 1994). In the U.S. population at large, smoking accounts for one in every six deaths each year, or more than 1,000 deaths per day. Currently, 35% of military personnel smoke; this rate has declined from 51% in 1980, but it remains higher than the general population average of 26% (Bray & Marsden, 1994). This higher incidence could be related to peer pressure, stress, boredom, inexpensive cigarettes, and lack of other forms of recreation (Haire-Joshu, Morgan, & Fisher, 1991). Cigarette smoking is now understood to be an addiction influenced by a wide range of physiological and psychosocial factors, including the pharmacologic effects of nicotine. |
