Surgeon General Inks Sailors' Cigarette Packs for Vow to Quit

Source from:  newsobserver.com PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD 09/25/2007

The encounter this week was opportune. The man whose warning label graces every cigarette pack in the United States paid a visit to a U.S. Navy hospital with 700 military personnel and civilians on board, among them more than a few addicted smokers. As Rear Adm. Kenneth Moritsugu, the acting surgeon general, toured the USNS Comfort in this southern Caribbean capitol, he found himself autographing sailors' cigarette packs as keepsakes -- with a hitch. In exchange, the nation's top doctor made them pledge to kick the habit. On the spot. "This may well be the motivation they need," Moritsugu said in a shipboard interview, emphasizing the message that has made his office famous. "Stop smoking. Be Healthy." The impromptu initiative was unwittingly started Thursday by an at-times wisecracking sailor aboard the boat, Petty Officer 3rd Class Tyler Jones, who works as a Navy journalist and who has smoked since college. Jones, 21, spotted the surgeon general, whipped out his cigarette pack and asked for an autograph. Moritsugu obliged. Along with this scrawl: "THE LAST PACK. 07/20/07." And the wiry native of Georgia said he supposed he had smoked his last cigarette. By evening, Moritsugu had addressed Comfort crew members with an offer: Quit on the spot and the man who soon retires from a four-decade career in public health would seal it with an autograph and a commemorative coin from the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, a rare collectible. About two dozen sailors did, both officers and enlisted members. Smoke again, he said, then you must find him -- and return the coin. Comfort was in Trinidad this week offering free dental services and vaccines, some surgeries and pediatric checkups as part of a four-month mission to 12 Latin American and Caribbean nations. During the trip, the medical staff has so far treated more than 83,000 patients but not yet cleared its 1,000th shipboard surgery. Next stops include Guyana and Suriname before a return to Norfolk, Va., next month. Moritsugu said there was no more fitting setting for the kick-the-habit stunt, given that health workers should know most of all the consequences of smoking. "Part of it is fun -- but also part of it is very, very serious," he said. "The science is unequivocal. Smoking kills. Smoking makes people sick. What you do today may well have an impact years from now." Asked whether he can get the hospital ship's shop to stop selling cigarettes, the admiral said that decision would have to be made elsewhere. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be published, broadcast or redistributed in any manner. Enditem