Air Force officials taking action
as use of illegal drugs increases
By Kent Harris, Stars
and Stripes
Proposed
initiativesInitiatives proposed by the
Air Force Drug Abuse Reduction Team:
¶ Test recruits at entrance processing stations for
the same drugs the Air Force tests for.
¶ Use random weekend and holiday urinalysis testing.
¶ Expand instruction to commanders, emphasizing
options available to them and the impact of drug abuse on the missions they command.
¶ Field standardized substance abuse awareness
programs at all bases.
¶ Use commander’s call visits to relate the
effects illegal drugs have on health and careers.
¶ Highlight zero tolerance in internal media.
¶ Continue to emphasize the importance of the issue
in chief-of-staff messages.
¶ Create awareness videos for use by commanders and
for airmen.
¶ Establish the judge advocate general as the focal
point to integrate data and determine trends.
Source: Air Force Press News |
AVIANO AB, Italy — The war on drug use has hit home for Air
Force officials as they continue their battle against airmen using illegal drugs.
Concerns have grown as officials watch more and more airmen find
trouble with designer drugs such as Ecstasy.
A recent set of recommendations by the Air Force Drug Abuse Reduction
team concluded that there “was an increase in drug use in the Air Force,”
according to Maj. Janice Pegram, the team’s chief.
That’s based at least partially on an increase of airmen caught
using drugs.
It’s also supported by the numbers:
Last year, the Air Force handled more than 580 drug-related cases
— 176 of them for Ecstasy, according to a special agent for the Air Force Office of
Special Investigation in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Ecstasy was involved in just 66 of the
more than 700 drug cases.
While investigations have increased, busting people using the drug
has not.
In fiscal 2000, of the 21,174 USAFE airmen tested under the mandatory
random testing system, only three tested positive for Ecstasy. The drug of choice,
according to the random testing, remains marijuana.
So is it a greater number of airmen using, or just a greater number
getting caught?
“I think it’s a combination of the two,” Pegram said
from her office in the Pentagon.
Jim Landreth, the man in charge of testing for illegal substances at
Aviano, said the drug testing works more as a deterrent.
“Although,” he said, “they’ll catch people in the
process.”
Aviano, however, seems to have a very strong record against people
using drugs.
The base has not tossed anyone out of the military for illegal drug
use since February 2000. And that’s not for a lack of testing. Aviano, like other
bases, will test an airman if a superior provides good reason to do so. Others in the
community are also tested regularly.
Additionally, Landreth has conducted three random weekend tests
— partially because of Ecstasy — since the end of May. The drug can flush out of
a person’s system quickly.
The result? One positive — for a prescription drug.
It’s not that illegal drugs aren’t available around Aviano.
Landreth said airmen could buy Ecstasy at Italian clubs even though
Italian police have targeted distributors and producers in regular sweeps.
Young airmen, aged 18 to 25, seem to be the Air Force’s chief
concern. “That’s when you want to try everything,” Landreth said.
“You’re invincible. You’re bulletproof.”
That invulnerability probably doesn’t carry over when it comes
to giving up your urine, though.
“I know one way of beating the test,” Landreth said, his
voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper. Then he winks: “Don’t use.”
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