45 of 86 airmen since March fail Spice tests
More than half of the airmen tested for the designer drug Spice have had positive results, the Air Force Times reported.
Since March, 45 of the 86 airmen that were tested for the syntehetic form of cannabis had postive results. In June of last year, the Air Force issued a sweeping ban on possession and use of Spice and all mood-altering substances, with the exception of alcohol and tobacco.
The Armed Forces Medical Examiner System is the joint agency responsible for conducting Spice urinalyses for each of the services. Findings show that airmen aren’t alone in abusing Spice. Soldiers, sailors and Marines have also tested positive at high rates, with 164 of 242 soldiers showing evidence of Spice use and 113 of 183 Marines and sailors testing positive for the drug.
Col. Timothy Lyons, a top forensic toxicology expert at AFMES, said the numbers aren’t indicative of rates among troops, because the samples emerged from a population that was already under investigation.
Read more about Spice use among airmen in the Air Force Times.
