Rise in drug use among troops down to ‘too much spare time’

Retired general says trend could be linked to fewer overseas missions

THE rise in drug use among soldiers could be linked to troops spending more time with civilian friends as there are fewer overseas missions, retired military chiefs say.

The number of Army personnel who failed drug tests last year was 780, up from 590 in 2017, according to figures obtained by The Sunday Telegraph under Freedom of Information laws.

Cocaine was the most common substance taken by the 3,860 Armed Forces members who failed drug tests between 2014 and 2018.

General Lord Dannatt, the former Chief of the General Staff, has suggested soldiers now have more time to socialise with friends for whom drug use is less risky, in the absence of “frequent” overseas deployments.

Commenting on the Army specifically, Lord Dannatt said: “Units are very busy on training, overseas exercises and other activities but they are not experiencing frequent six-month operational deployments which they were in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2003 and 2014.

“This may have led to more time back in barracks and frequent weekend leave either in garrison towns or home towns. This makes access to drugs easier and also associating more with civilian friends – former school friends etc – for whom drugtaking is not a big deal, more of a routine activity.”

The FOI results also showed 470 soldiers failed a drugs test between January and August this year.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) did not hold any more up-to-date figures.

The MoD confirmed in

March that six soldiers from the Yorkshire-based 6 Regiment, Royal Logistics Corps, had been withdrawn from their ranks after testing positive for cocaine.

The Army has previously been criticised for reportedly allowing some soldiers to carry on serving after a positive result on a drug test.

In November 2018, Gavin Williamson, then defence secretary, introduced a “zero-tolerance policy”, saying that illicit drugs were “incompatible” with a “world-class military”.

However, Ben Wallace, the current Defence Secretary, told the Conservative party conference it should be up to the discretion of commanding officers.

There are fears a “softer” approach may embolden junior soldiers to take drugs more freely because they believe they will be given a second chance.

But official figures show only 2 per cent of personnel who are retained in service following the failure of a drugs test go on to reoffend.

While there has been a general trend of more troops failing drug tests across the Army, RAF and Royal Navy since 2015, in 2017 there was a marked drop across all three forces.

The Army has previously noted that drug taking is less prevalent than in the civilian world.

An MoD spokesman said: “Drugs abuse is incompatible with military service and personnel are subject to random compulsory drug testing. Anyone caught taking drugs can expect to be discharged.”