Servicemen not immune

Well surprise, surprise, drug use is rife in our defence force. Obviously things are no different to when I served in the RAN in the early nineties. It is ludicrous to believe that the members of our defence force are immune to illicit drug use. Like thousands of young Australians, our servicemen and women discovered the benefits of illicit drug use long ago.

How can we expect our soldiers to refrain from illicit drug use when we send them to conquer countries like Iraq, where they will be subject to ongoing and sustained resistance? How can they be drug free after they have seen the horrors of Vietnam or more recently Timor or Rwanda?

Our soldiers are faced with scenes that many of us will never have to face and yet we expect them to abstain from using any illicit drugs. Would we prefer that they all become raging alcoholics?

Society needs to accept that to ingest substances, whether they are licit or illicit is and always will be a part of human nature. The ADF needs to stop purging soldiers who are using illicit drugs and provide them with the appropriate level of support that they require to get over some of the trauma that they have been through.

Gary Meyerhoff
Ludmilla

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: 8th July 2003
Source: Northern Territory News
Author: Gary Meyerhoff
Email: ntnmail@newsltd.com.au
Website: http://www.ntnews.com.au
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News