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 veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 13,985
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 Stressed US troops in Iraq 'turning to drugs' 
#4440420 - 07/22/05 09:07 PM (6 years, 10 months ago) |
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Stressed US troops in Iraq 'turning to drugs'
July 23, 2005 - telegraph.co.uk
Two years into the occupation of Iraq the menace of drug abuse appears to be afflicting American troops.
Aware of the debilitating effect drugs had on the morale and effectiveness of GIs in the Vietnam War, the authorities are attempting to stifle a repeat in Iraq.
Aside from random urine tests and barrack room searches, commanders have asked their troops to inform on colleagues.
In the past month a soldier has been arrested for selling cocaine and two per cent of the troops from one brigade have been charged with drug and alcohol abuse.
According to US army figures, out of the 4,000 men of the 256th Brigade Combat Team, 53 faced alcohol-related charges and 48 were charged with drug offences.
Since the overthrow of Saddam's regime the borders that have been so porous for insurgents have been equally open for heroin and hash smugglers from Afghanistan and Iran providing a cheap market for troops. With colleagues being killed or wounded on a daily basis, some US soldiers have turned to drugs to escape the horrors of fighting insurgents.
In one case, according to Stars and Stripes, the in-house US forces newspaper, Sgt Michael Boudreaux was found with drugs, four bottles of whiskey and 22 videos of Iraqi pornography. He received a seven month confinement, was demoted to private and given a bad conduct discharge.
In another case, Pte Emily Hamilton told a court martial that she used a hashish pipe belonging to a colleague because "it helped me go right to sleep". She was given a year's confinement and a bad conduct discharge.
"Some of these young soldiers just can't handle the stress," said Capt Christopher Krafchek, a military defence lawyer.
The majority of drug-users are in their teens or early 20s, and sometimes get their drugs from local Iraqis while on patrol in Baghdad.
Troops caught in possession of illegal substances are either jailed, demoted or discharged from the forces.
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 BetaDelta
Stranger
Registered: 07/05/05
Posts: 656
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Re: Stressed US troops in Iraq 'turning to drugs' [Re: veggie]
#4443878 - 07/23/05 04:12 PM (6 years, 10 months ago) |
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I had haard about US troops being given extacy so this just seams like the next place it would lead!
Take care
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delta9
Active Ingredient
 
Registered: 10/28/04
Posts: 5,390
Loc: California
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Re: Stressed US troops in Iraq 'turning to drugs' [Re: BetaDelta]
#4444389 - 07/23/05 06:36 PM (6 years, 10 months ago) |
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No it has nothing to do with the US Veterans suffering Post Traumatic Stress using MDMA in clinical trials.
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delta9
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ToiletDuk
Cat Psychiatrist
Registered: 05/16/03
Posts: 73,285
Loc: Earthfarm 1
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 Re: Stressed US troops in Iraq 'turning to drugs' [Re: veggie]
#4444487 - 07/23/05 06:53 PM (6 years, 10 months ago) |
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So out of 4,000 troops you have 1.3% with alcohol offenses and 1.2% with drug offenses. Sounds about right for the general population, I would say. I don't see the "crisis" here.......
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Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!
Registered: 04/20/01
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Re: Stressed US troops in Iraq 'turning to drugs' [Re: veggie]
#4444823 - 07/23/05 08:46 PM (6 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
veggie said:
and 22 videos of Iraqi pornography
That's hard time.
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Mp3 of the month: The Shy Guys - Black Lightning Light
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dblaney
Human Being
Registered: 10/03/04
Posts: 7,894
Loc: Here & Now
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Re: Stressed US troops in Iraq 'turning to drugs' [Re: ToiletDuk]
#4444853 - 07/23/05 08:55 PM (6 years, 10 months ago) |
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I would guess the military is just afraid of getting a bad name, since these are the people who will be fighting to protect all one or two of our American freedoms, so they shouldn't be taking drugs...or something like that
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"What is in us that turns a deaf ear to the cries of human suffering?"
"Belief is a beautiful armor
But makes for the heaviest sword"
- John Mayer
Making the noise "penicillin" is no substitute for actually taking penicillin.
"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it." -Abraham Lincoln
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LeftyBurnz
Mr. I Eat Butthole
Registered: 06/21/05
Posts: 23,286
Loc: The Wang
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Re: Stressed US troops in Iraq 'turning to drugs' [Re: Learyfan]
#4445044 - 07/23/05 09:54 PM (6 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Learyfan said:
Quote:
veggie said:
and 22 videos of Iraqi pornography
That's hard time.
notice how he got 7 months confinement and she got a year... she only smoked a little hash, he had alcohol, drugs and im pretty sure the iraqi porn would be a violation for conflict of intrest of something like that.
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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in Government."
~Thomas Jefferson
A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.
~George Washington
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