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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Army alters drugs policy in effort to ease recruits crisis
Sean Rayment The Sunday Telegraph
Sunday 17 Feb 2002 ARMY recruiting officers have been ordered to stop asking potential soldiers whether they have ever experimented with drugs in an effort to ease the recruitment crisis. The relaxation of the rules on drug abuse was authorised last November by senior officers of the Adjutant General Corps, responsible for personnel issues, in response to the shortage of eligible recruits. The armed services are 9,413 troops under strength, according to government figures. It is understood that the change was ordered after it became apparent that if enough troops were to be recruited, a softer drugs policy would be needed. A Ministry of Defence spokesman confirmed that the rigorous drugs-linked questioning of army applicants ceased late last year. The MoD spokesman said: "If the armed forces were automatically to exclude every single person who had either taken drugs regularly or experimented with drugs, we quite simply would not have any armed forces. "Ultimately, we have to reflect society, and drug abuse is very much part of society. We accept that now there is always the risk that we might recruit individuals who habitually take drugs but, we hope, they will be identified during the initial training stage when they will be tested for drug abuse." The policy change follows the revelation that there are now believed to be fewer than 10 units in the Army whose troops have never tested positive for drug abuse. Even the Special Air Service has been forced to expel soldiers who have been discovered using cannabis. It follows a further watering down of anti-drugs regulations, which seven years ago meant that any form of drugs experimentation was an automatic bar to a career in the services. Although the Army no longer questions potential recruits on their drugs habits, RAF and Royal Navy recruiting staff are still allowed to ask "attitudinal questions" such as "do you associate with known drugs users?" and "what are your views on drug abuse?" Any class A drugs conviction will automatically rule out any possibility of a career in the services, as will trafficking of class B or C drugs. Cases where individuals have been charged with possession of class B or class C drugs will be treated on a case-by-case basis. The MoD spokesman added: "Our policy on drugs still remains for service personnel. Anyone who fails a drugs test will face being discharged from the armed services." Since 1995, when compulsory drugs testing was introduced, of the 474,988 servicemen tested, 2,771 have produced positive results while 72 have refused to give samples. An Army sergeant at a London recruiting office said that candidates were no longer questioned in interviews on whether they had experimented with drugs because it was now regarded as "an invasion of an individual's privacy". Instead, potential recruits are asked to sign a statement to say that they accept that the armed forces are a drugs-free environment. The recruiting sergeant, said: "The policy now is that when you join the Army you start afresh. The problem with that is that you could have recruits who will return to drug abuse when they have passed their training and they could influence other soldiers." One senior Army officer said, however, that the policy of discharging soldiers for minor drugs offences was outdated. He said: "Personally, I don't really care if my soldiers have the odd joint at the weekend. "My real worry is the effect of alcohol on a soldier's wellbeing and his professionalism. The damage alcohol abuse can do to the body is well documented but in many respects, and especially in the Army, it is often put down to having a good time. "I can't see the point of kicking a well-trained, professional soldier out of the Army because he may have the occasional joint. That practice benefits nobody." Dr Andrew Murrison, the Conservative MP for Westbury, and a former Royal Navy Surgeon Commander, questioned the point of compulsory drugs testing if recruits were not going to be asked whether they had ever misused drugs. He said: "Compulsory drugs testing, in my experience as an ex- serviceman, is not a particularly pleasant experience and, if we are in the business of undertaking such testing, we should be asking some basic questions of recruits before we sign them up."
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