Troops caught taking drugs on the increase

AN INCREASE in the number of troops caught taking drugs on deployment has been blamed on the high number of training missions to non-combat zones where they are more readily available, say experts.

Figures obtained by the BBC show the number of soldiers failing drugs tests each year rose from 80 in 2012-13 to 110 last year. In that time 470 soldiers failed tests, mainly for cocaine, cannabis and steroids. The Army says anyone caught taking drugs can expect to be dismissed.

Peter Quentin, land warfare research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, told the BBC that the high tempo of non-combat deployments could partly explain an increase. “These deployments are not the high-intensity combat operations we saw in Iraq and Afghanistan, but to places such as the Baltics,’’ he said.

“It may be easier for those soldiers inclined to take drugs to access them there. This could explain the rise.”

Jacquie Johnston-lynch, from the veteran addiction charity Tom Harrison House, said drugs were taken to deal with boredom.

She said: “One told me the party lifestyle was such a part of being stationed overseas. They regularly took recreational drugs just to relieve stress and boredom.’’

The failure rate for drugs tests by deployed soldiers has more than doubled from one in 240 to one in 110.