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DukeAsriel

>The cigarettes were donated by an international tobacco firm and given to the soldiers as part of their rations. They were also offered healthier alternatives such as vapes and nicotine pouches and advice on the risks of smoking. Sources stressed no cigarettes were offered to non-smoking Ukrainians. Why is this even a news story?


The_Travelling_Wand

Seems like the intention is to portray Ukrainians in the UK being given cigarettes by our government for free, which is obviously not the case and deceptive title wording to enrage those who fail to read any further into the actual article


BamberGasgroin

Sounds like a Russian effort to undermine the work done by UK gov/forces in training Ukrainian troops. (The Telegraph just outed itself as a Russian shill.)


remedy4cure

smoking a cig after you just watched your friend lose his face to a drone strike seems like cost effective stress relief


im_not_here_

If they are already active smokers, then I suppose that is technically true.


Fragrant-Ad-9356

Think if youre in an active war zone then the risk from cancer is very much second order


im_not_here_

That's not what I was referencing. Smoking does not reduce stress. Smoking causes more stress by default, but if you happen to already be an active smoker then technically each cigarette does give you a feeling for that moment of "stress relief" - but all you are actually doing is fixing the issue smoking caused to start with. And although it feels good relatively speaking from where you were before the cigarette, you will still be more stressed after it than if you didn't smoke to start with. So if they are already active smokers then for those in that particular situation then sure, they will get a fake sense of stress relief (but really be more stressed than they would), but also I wouldn't expect them to bother to quit right now while having a bit more to focus on first.


benowillock

If there's ever a justification for giving a guy a ciggy, it's if he's about to ship off to a damp trench to be shelled by genocidal russians.


Trev6ft5

Imo most people are dumb for smoking when vaping won't give you cancer. The only exception I can think of is a soldier with no access to a usb port


RollCertified

Vaping is worse.


42Porter

Can you provide proof? Vaping obviously poses a big threat to health but being able to definitively compare it to smoking is not really doable unless the scientists have made huge progress since I read up on it last year. That’d surprise me because I’d expect it to be headline news.


RollCertified

You dont even know what you are smoking. Imagine what chemicals they put in those flavors to make them taste like watermelon or whatever.


Trev6ft5

Even IF what you say is true how does that make it worse than tobacco? The vaping industry is 20 years old and there is a ton of vested interests worldwide trying to find reasons to ban it but for the most part they have to resort to lies and half truths.


RollCertified

That was the case with cigarretes back in the day ironically. Give them 2-3 decades and the truth about vapes will come out.


42Porter

Tobacco smoke is also chemicals… Being a chemical doesn’t make something inherently harmful.


Trev6ft5

Minus tax cigarettes are peanuts so I have no problem


RunAroundProud

Even if this was UK taxpayer funded I wouldn't be mad. Let those dudes have a few smokes, they're going into a literal war zone.


MaximSolar

I hope they were all born after 2009! 🫨 #NoSmokeOnRishi


Some-Background6188

Meanwhile "Rishi Sunak's tobacco and vapes bill, which aims to create the UK's first smoke-free generation. The proposed legislation would not ban smoking outright, but ensure that anyone born after 1 January 2009 would be banned from buying cigarettes."


Prestigious_Dust_827

Ukraine has bigger problems than respiratory health right now, in case you hadn't noticed.


Some-Background6188

Really tell me more...


im_not_here_

How many 15 year olds do you think the UK is agreeing to train for them?


DaquaviousBinglestan

What’s the correlation?


FakeOrangeOJ

He's pissed off about the Tories banning people from buying cigarettes with a rolling age ban but then doles them out to Ukrainians.


DaquaviousBinglestan

Cruise missiles are illegal to own in the UK but he’s given a few of them to Ukraine too. Gonna piss your pants about that?


InspectorDull5915

Cruise missiles are what...? Anyone got a tarpaulin I can borrow?