SQUADDIE DRUGGIES: 700 are booted out

SEVEN hundred servicemen and women were booted out of the forces last year after failing drugs tests.

By Joe Hinton

 
SACKED: Drug takers from Royal Regimentt of Scotland were not on the parade [PA]

More than 2,000 members of the armed forces – mainly soldiers – have been given their marching orders for drug abuse since 2011.
Cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis were the main drugs involved but there has also been a surge in numbers using banned steroids as a major body-building cult continues to grow in the forces.

Defence chiefs had hoped to see the abuse reduced following an anti-drug campaign in barracks and bases. But the number of servicemen and women caught taking illegal substances jumped from 570 in 2013 to 700 in 2014 – the largest rise for almost a decade.
Figures released in a Freedom of Information request showed 400 soldiers tested positive for Class A drugs, with cocaine being the most popular, while 30 members of both the Royal Navy and RAF also tested positive.

There were 130 positive tests for Class B drugs among soldiers and 100 were found to have used Class C substances.
The armed forces have a zero tolerance policy on drugs, resulting in dismissal. The infantry unit with the worst record was the Royal Regiment of Scotland which had 50 soldiers fail drugs tests. A further 40 from the Foot Guards – who are responsible for guarding the Queen – tested positive.

The Mercian Regiment, The Rifles and the Yorkshire Regiment each had 40 soldiers fail the tests.
Teams of medics descend on military bases unannounced to take urine samples from every serviceman or woman irrespective of rank.

ZERO TOLERANCE: over 700 servicemen and women were booted out of the army last year [SWNS]

“The armed forces do not tolerate any form of inappropriate behaviour, including substance misuse”

A Ministry of Defence spokesman

The use of steroids has become a growing concern.
In 2013, 17 soldiers including two sergeant majors from 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery failed drugs tests after using a sports supplement containing the restricted substance ephedrine.
The stimulant has similar effects to the Class B drug amphetamine. Despite claims they had taken the substance without realising it was illegal, they were all dismissed.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The armed forces do not tolerate any form of inappropriate behaviour, including substance misuse.”