Exclusive: Soldiers who take drugs are retained by Army

HEAVY losses in Afghanistan are forcing the Army to retain drug-taking soldiers, an ex-military chief has claimed as figures show that one in 10 servicemen caught taking illegal substances is allowed to keep his job.

Twelve soldiers a week are found to have drugs in their systems, with Class A substances like cocaine and Ecstasy detected in hundreds of random tests.

Although 651 Army personnel tested positive in compulsory tests in 2008, only 580 were discharged – less than 90 per cent.

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Soldiers found to have taken illegal drugs included more than 30 members of the Yorkshire Regiment and about 150 personnel from other units based in the region.

The figures are revealed only days after it emerged some 5,000 soldiers and officers were unable to fight on the front line because of physical or mental injury or illness, a lack of fitness, or non-medical reasons.

Patrick Mercer, Tory MP for Newark and Retford and a former Army commanding officer, said with British forces facing a long campaign in Afghanistan, under-pressure military chiefs were likely to be more willing to give drug-taking soldiers a second chance.

"It is very hard if you are a commanding officer and the official Army policy is that there is no tolerance of these drugs," he said.

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"Every soldier is precious and every soldier is extremely expensively trained and there is a tendency among commanding officers to be lenient.

"It is very easy for us to say drug use cannot be tolerated but it is hard if your unit is under strength to discharge soldiers who have erred and strayed from thy ways on perhaps one occasion. These are the people who are absolutely crucial to our effort in Afghanistan and you cannot lose them.

"In my day, the most commonly used form of recreational drug was alcohol, but a lot of these drugs are now cheaper than alcohol and are relatively easily available.

"There is an irony that part of the function of our operations in Afghanistan is to quash the drug trade and the very people involved in those operations are using them."

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Cocaine was found in about 410 drug tests carried out in 2008. Other illegal substances detected were Ecstasy, cannabis and tranquilizers.

No soldiers tested positive while serving in military operations.

The Ministry of Defence provided the Yorkshire Post with figures for every unit in the Army, but rounded them to the nearest 10 "in order to preserve anonymity".

They show that members of the Yorkshire Regiment were asked to take 1,480 tests in 2008, of which between 31 and 34 were positive.

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About 70 personnel failed tests at the Infantry Training Centre in Catterick, and there were about 10 positive tests at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate.

Drug-taking was also detected at another 14 Yorkshire-based battalions or units.

An MoD spokesman said the Army did not tolerate drug abuse within its ranks "as it is incompatible with military service and reduces operational effectiveness".

He added that the "overwhelming majority" of Army personnel found to have taken illegal drugs had been discharged.

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"The incidence of drug misuse among service personnel occurs at a much lower rate than in society at large," the spokesman said.

"However, the vast majority of those relatively few soldiers who do succumb are of the same 16-24 age group among whom drug misuse is most prevalent in civilian society.

"The Army recognises that a small minority of soldiers do take drugs, however, it should be stressed that drugs use is not widespread and is contained by the deterrent effect of compulsory drug testing."