Is The Military Ignoring The Heroin Problem In The Ranks?

[ensho]

http://airamerica.com/politics/10-20-2009/military-ignoring-its-heroin-problem/


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For many soldiers bored or traumatized, the access to cheap, strong heroin is likely to be a powerful lure and, in fact, reports going back to 2006 show that heroin can be easily--and cheaply--obtained mere steps off Bagram Air Base. Shaun McCanna, reporting for Salon in 2007, was able to arrange to receive heroin worth hundreds of dollars in the U.S. for $30 in the Bagram Bazaar multiple times.

-snip-

McCanna was initially turned on to the heroin problem at Bagram by the death of a soldier, John Torres, who told his family about the heroin problems at Bagram before his death under mysterious circumstances. McCanna bought heroin more than a dozen times in Bagram while filming a documentary about Torres' death and saw ample evidence that soldiers were trading military equipment for drugs as well.

In 2007, the military denied that there was a heroin problem among soldiers in Afghanistan.

-snip-

McCanna's piece was published more than two years ago, but a recent filing by Gerald Posner in The Daily Beast indicates that little has changed with either the military's attentiveness to the problem or the market for heroin among military personnel. Recently, a former general-turned-drug-czar Barry McCaffrey admitted, to the military's chagrin, that a problem likely exists.

-snip-

In other words, they aren't really testing the troops in Afghanistan regularly. In fact, Wright was unable to find any data later than 2006--the data the military provided McCanna in 2007. However, the VA reported 22,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seeking substance abuse treatment in 2008, a significant increase from the 9,000 they saw in 2006, and the numbers are only expected the grow.

Despite the well-documented access to heroin in Afghanistan, anecdotal evidence of widespread drug abuse and private concerns about soldiers trafficking cheap heroin stateside, Posner reports that the DEA doesn't have a single case officer serving in Afghanistan or Iraq looking into drug trafficking.

In the end, no one knows exactly how many U.S. troops are using heroin, though it is unlikely that the military's acknowledged "none" is any reflection of reality. But with the military's outright refusal to acknowledge the reality of drug abuse and addiction among troops in the field, it's equally unlikely that military or VA health services are prepared for any onslaught of addiction patients requiring counseling and rehabilitation.

Posner notes that methadone clinics are already overpacked despite the military's denials, and VA counselors suggest that it will take years from some patients to seek the help they likely already need.
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I knew a guy who came back from Nam a junkie. last I heard he was pimping a young women who he had turned into a junkie too.


militarys stink

[vadawg]

1. i guess drug use is going to happen no matter what segment of society is involved

but in my experience the military has kept more people away from drugs, but like your opinion its only one...

[ipfilter]

6. I learned everything I know about drug culture when

I was in the Navy in the early 90's. The military has a zero tolerance policy, but that does not stop the drug use. It just means when someone gets caught they are automatically discharged. During my enlistment I could probably name 20 people who I knew well that were discharged for drug use. I know many more who never got caught. We even had a Command Master Chief - the most senior enlisted guy in the command who tells you not to use drugs - get busted and kicked out.

[Barack_America]

2. Looking more and more like Vietnam every day.

There's a methadone clinic located across the street from the Philly VA.

That is not a coincidence.

[AllentownJake]

3. Well they are ignoring

wounded vets with head trauma, people's families being destroyed because of multiple tours, and PTSD.

America has a proud history of screwing over their veterans dating back to the Revolution.

[Democracyinkind]

4. Heroin is what killed the Russians there - our idea - talk about blowback.

I was expecting such an article since 8 years now, and I wonder why it hasn't come earlier. We're they able to resist until now or has the problem now just grown to undeniable levels? Most of the military folks I know where in Iraq, and there I never heard about it... I'd love to read more articles on this...

[Taverner]

5. If I were there, you know I'd be a smack addict

[tekisui]

7. I read an article that the Taliban, as part of their strategy, are trying

to get the troops hooked.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. Yet another similarity to my generation's war

[ensho]

9. kicking back to pg. 1 cause this matters

nt