Soldiers sacked over drugs

[Oz]

TWENTY-four soldiers and nine sailors have been thrown out of the Australian Defence Force for abusing drugs -- and the careers of several Townsville soldiers are also on the line.

 

The sackings follow drug raids on the Northern Territory-based 1 Brigade, which prompted a nationwide crackdown on drug abuse in the ranks.

 

It is also likely that a number of soldiers who tested positive for drugs at Townsville will also be sacked.

 

Chief of Army Lieutenant-General Peter Leahy said yesterday 47 soldiers tested positive as a result of the raids at Robertson Barracks, near Darwin, late last year.

 

Ninety-seven soldiers were tested out of 3598 personnel.

 

General Leahy said 39 Townsville-based soldiers were tested and 15 of those tested positive. There were 4015 soldiers based in the city.

 

He said action against the Townsville soldiers who tested positive was pending.

 

The sacked soldiers were found to have been using cannabis, benzodiazepines, amphetamines and opiates, with some testing positive for more than one drug.

 

"Twenty-four of the soldiers who tested positive will be discharged and there is a decision pending for 19 other soldiers," General Leahy told a Senate estimates committee

 

General Leahy rejected media claims that soldiers were trading military weapons for drugs.

 

He said two rifles and two pistols went missing from 1 Brigade last year.

 

Source: Townsville Bulletin

[deejayvee]

General Leahy rejected media claims that soldiers were trading military weapons for drugs.

 

He said two rifles and two pistols went missing from 1 Brigade last year.

So what were they traded for?

[Luke Skywalker]

Apparently there were allegations that some soldiers had been trading weapons and other items, one of which was a Styre assault rifle, for drugs and paying of debts to bikie and other organised crime gangs. I can imagine that any such allegations would very quickly be denied and hushed as much as possible by the top brass. As it stands, the senior command has been quoted saying there is no way that the prevalence of drug use in the armed forces is anything like the prevalence in the general population....

 

Really? Where do most soldiers come from, socio-economically? And they're trying to bullshit us and say that there's only a very, very few soldiers in the entire Australian forces combined who use drugs? ::

 

Idiots. It's like many parts of prohibition. Pretend it's not there, and we can just about justify our actions. Even if presented with direct evidence which contradicts them, or shows what they're doing is hypocritical and immoral, deny, deny, deny. Say it often enough, people will believe you.

 

Drugs 'r bad... mmmm'kay?

[deejayvee]

I know the story, my point was that if there was no trading going on as General Leahy claimed, what happened to those rifles and pistols that went missing? There's no mention of where they've gone, yet we are to believe that there was no trading?

 

What worries me most about this willingness to outright lie by governments when it comes to drugs is when you start hearing about calls in America to treat Osama Bin Laden as a "narco-terrorist" and to combine the war on drugs with the war on terror. Already American troops are being used to crack down on trafficking in the Persian Gulf. At the moment they're targeting heroin which doesn't affect me, but when you've also got American government ads claiming that by buying marijuana you are funding terrorists then you can see where they're headed. I think we're in for some bad times ahead...

[wade ounce]

At the moment they're targeting heroin which doesn't affect me, but when you've also got American government ads claiming that by buying marijuana you are funding terrorists then you can see where they're headed. I think we're in for some bad times ahead...

Yeah mate,

Unfortunately i have to agree with ya there.

We all know how much the yank government hates weed and anyone who smokes weed.

And little Johnny does whatever the red-neck bush tells him. :angry:

 

What happens when the u.s soldiers stumble across a load of pot in their search for 'heroine'?

 

Surely this will just be an excuse for the yanks to include there focus on 'all' illegal drugs.

 

just my opinion

 

wade

[deejayvee]

Yep, that's what I'm thinking.

 

But the worst thing IMO is that they will use the War on Terrorism to justify using their military for drug busts.

[El_Badass]

and then how long would it take for australlia to follow especially in this climate of hysteria they've created.