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Goran Tomasevic / REUTERS file
U.S. Marines patrol in front of a poppy field in a village in the Golestan district of Farah province, May 4, 2009.
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Army has investigated 56 soldiers in Afghanistan on suspicion of using or distributing heroin, morphine or other opiates during 2010 and 2011, newly obtained data shows. Eight soldiers died of drug overdoses during that time.
While the cases represent just a slice of possible drug use by U.S. troops in Afghanistan, they provide a somber snapshot of the illicit trade in the war zone, including young Afghans peddling heroin, soldiers dying after mixing cocktails of opiates, troops stealing from medical bags and Afghan soldiers and police dealing drugs to their U.S. comrades.
In a country awash with poppy fields that provide up to 90 percent of the world's opium, the U.S. military struggles to keep an eye on its far-flung troops and monitor for substance abuse.
But U.S. Army officials say that while the presence of such readily available opium — the raw ingredient for heroin — is a concern, opiate abuse has not been a pervasive problem for troops in Afghanistan.
"We have seen sporadic cases of it, but we do not see it as a widespread problem, and we have the means to check," said Col. Tom Collins, an Army spokesman.
Get an intimate view of the lives of infantry soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division, as they encounter danger and then have down time in Logar Province, Afghanistan.
PhotoBlog: Lifting the veil on Afghanistan's female addicts
The data represents only the criminal investigations done by Army Criminal Investigation Command involving soldiers in Afghanistan during those two years. The cases, therefore, are just a piece of the broader drug use statistics released by the Army earlier this year reporting nearly 70,000 drug offenses by roughly 36,000 soldiers between 2006-2011. The number of offenses increased from about 9,400 in 2010 to about 11,200 in 2011.
The overdose totals for the two years, however, are double the number that the Defense Department has reported as drug-related deaths in Afghanistan for the last decade. Defense officials suggested that additional deaths may have been categorized as "other" or were still under investigation when the statistics were submitted.
The data was requested by conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch and obtained by The Associated Press. The Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps have not yet responded to the request for similar information. The Army reports blacked out the names of the soldiers who were under investigation as well any resolution of their cases or punishments they may have received.
Danger not 'fully acknowledged' by military
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said the numbers signal the need for the military leadership to be more vigilant about watching and warning troops in Afghanistan about drug abuse. He said the worry is that "the danger, including the danger of dying, hasn't been fully acknowledged by the military and it needs to be."
Army officials say they do random drug testing through the service and the goal is that every soldier is tested at least once a year. Top Army leaders have said they have not met that goal, but have been working steadily to substantially increase the number of those tested each year.
The officials also say the Army's Criminal Investigative Division has quarterly drug statistics that show that drug use by troops in Afghanistan is not greater than that of troops in installations back in the United States and there is less of a variance in drugs used by troops in Afghanistan.
Rahmat Gul / AP
More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.
According to Army data, an average of 1.38 million urine samples have been tested annually over the past five years, while an annual average of 106,000 soldiers were not tested at all. Officials said that regular testing is even more difficult in the war zone because the testing facilities are often far away.
The cases reflect a broad range of incidents, describing accidental overdoses as well as soldiers buying drugs from Afghan troops, stealing morphine from medical aid bags or, in some cases, taking steroids, using drugs prescribed to someone else or taking medications long after their prescriptions had expired.
Drugs bought from Afghan Army, police
In one overdose case, a member of the Kentucky National Guard was found dead of "acute heroin toxicity" at his Afghanistan base after a soldier, also in the Kentucky Guard, bought heroin from a civilian contractor and used it with him. The report found that he also had morphine and codeine in his system.
Others more often involved soldiers who were found dead and were later determined to have taken a mix of prescription and other opiate drugs.
ARCHIVAL VIDEO, Oct. 20, 2009: Author Gerald Posner and former CIA Special Agent Jack Rice discuss a report by the Daily Beast which suggests that the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan have launched a new offensive against U.S. soldiers – get them addicted to heroin to undermine their effectiveness.
The nonlethal cases range from a soldier failing a random drug test to more organized abuse.
In one case, seven members of the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division were found to have smoked hashish and/or ingested heroin numerous times, including some bought from members of the Afghan Army and police. The investigation found that one other brigade soldier acted as a lookout while others used the drugs.
Afghan farmer: I tried, but have to grow poppies to survive
Opium is a key revenue source in Afghanistan, both for the farmers and the insurgency, which can make money selling, transporting or processing the drugs. According to a U.N. report, revenue from opium production in Afghanistan soared by 133 percent in 2011, to about $1.4 billion, or about one-tenth of the country's GDP.
Associated Press writer Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report.
Leave a Comment:
That's quite right Leroy. Before the Harrison Act in the 1916 or so anyone could go into a pharmacy and buy whatever they wanted. Didn't need a Doctor's prescritption either. That came as the AMA decided that it might be nice to be in control of that business. Since then and through prohibition we have not learned very much or have decided that the money to be made and the jobs provided is more importent than eliminating the useless wastefull war on drugs.
That said, were there more addicts then than we have now? Statistics show that the addicts per capita then and now are exactly the same! That tells me that no matter what is done, there is always going to be a certain percentage of people who will get addicted.
obama's fault!
Goddammit!. i am @!$%#ing done hear this @!$%#!...bring our boys home now!!
Anything to discredit the 'current leadership' so they go after the military side. I think this is shameful. Naturally there are '@!$%#ups and jerks' in EVERY organization out there. Heck look and Congress and the House of Representatives! And Yes they are also getting MINE and YOUR tax dollars - Congress and the House of Reps - only thing is CONGRESS AND THE HOUSE OF REPS IS GETTING MORE OF IT!!
I'll bet dollars to doughnuts this story is worse than they are admitting, how easy it would be to cover up. Deaths listed as "other" or under investigation will be swept under the rug. Booze is not allowed, what do they expect?
If these soldiers were fighting in a brewery it'd be expected they'd be drinking, right? With poppy fields all around them it's no surprise these guys are getting high on opiates. Add in the fact that this war is stagnant and going nowhere it's a formula for them to seek out a remedy. The fact that the military doesn't really test enough to deter using it would seem that the commanders don't want to know if their boys are using. A big problem is that when their tour of duty is up, they bring that addiction home with them.
It's time's like these that make me pull out worthless junk from my closet like this story from 2001.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3071809/
Dorme bene.
Who do you think is running the popee fields in Afg? The CIA is making a ton of money for it's covert operations. They have always ventured into the drug biz for their hidden money. Heroin is in big demand. Why else would we have been in Colombia...cocaine.
How about stop saying bring them home where the military isn't listening to you. At least protest went on in Vietnam, but lazy ass Americans can't do it again? More billions, trillions of dollars, more add to people that hate us, more resupplying terrorist countries that turn against us.. Like really? Morons.
Those soldiers aren't honorable. They ain't doing anything that is honoring.
This story is for assuming purposes. MSNBC is similar to the military. Bullies, they never get their facts straight, never say anything nice, nor do anything nice. Always picking on other countries to piss 'em off to hate the America. Does North Korea sound familiar? Don't think they read our news? Or headlines? Provoke a country that can make nukes and now they will because of morons like them, morons like you that talk about this guys weight where this country is the number 1 of fat f*cks, brainless f*cks.
How about do something. Talk is cheap.
The goverment is doing the same thing they have always done. turning a blind eye to the problem. We used in the Nam and nothing has changed. But they like to act like they don't know about it. Just like they give BCD to junkies in a combat zone instead of treatment.
The GI is abused more than the general population. The first abuse is being sent to fight a war with the good possiblity that you will die. For the benefit of whom? Its not for your loved ones back home who can't find a job. Its not for american freedom and liberty since the government has pretty much taken all those rights away from us to protect themselves. The public wants the wars to end but they continue. WHY?
The wars accomplish one thing and one thing only they spend money, they create more debt to keep the powers that be in power. The military is almost as big as a con as the banking system.
We live in the twilight zone supported with lies. Nice country America. Well it once was.
So. Let them use smack. How many were killed? And, only eight overdose deaths. We accept to some degree the reality of war, the rape, murder of civilians and the desecration of their corpses, but not a little H? Americas streets are filling up with ex-troop junkies, heroin is everywhere, on our streets, in our schools. How many Americans died of heroin overdose right here in the "homeland" . If our heroes are dopers, then it must be o.k. for little johnny. Do us all a favor. List these overdose deaths as casualties of war. Let the families think their dead kid is JUST ANOTHER hero, look the other way. Stop talking about this not as ugly as war itself side of the war. A very peaceful way to die, really. And, an intact corpse. Sometimes that's even better than living. Sorry. I don't know what I'm even thinking this morning. Must be the war, or because I'm still waiting for the coffee to kick in.
In the early 70s I was in the Infantry in Germany and drug abuse ran rapid. Many Viet Nam vets using Heroin and many other soldiers using Crystal Meth, Hash, and Mad dogs. Much was the stress and desperation of the job, much was from the availability and soldiers with low standards and a lack of education. This is sad, not a large number thank goodness, but is still sad.
Not a good thing, but not unexpected,.. lets remember where all the money is going from sales back home!,.. eh??.. We cant really blame the users, they are victims and are! being firther victimised in the name of the almighty $$,.. I am not condoning drug use, its not my thang, never was and never will be either,,but I do see and have some real world experience in exposing the heirarchy of the drug world,, and it is not!! what you all are being fed,,,It is very common for the suppliers of these drugs to select a certain part of the population and then throw them in front of the bus to deflect attention from their! criminal acts,,in fact,, happens every time!! we make some headway, every! time,,, you want to think about that, it is!! important to us all,,,I for one would be truly astonished to find that OC has not infiltrated any! military, in any! country, anywhere,, with the end result being to CREATE!! long term users of this product,,and my my, does this work er what??..If it was my! selection?.. I would immediatly put military intelligence in direct! contact with street enforcement, direct!!, and wrap up the entire drug team in play, there and here,...and yes, we would have them all,, you bet!!,..now, now eh, you all are seeing the what and why of those civilian shootings etc,,,you have to look beyond! the actual shooter to get at the real story on this deal,,, drug dealers, drug lords, drug gangsters, all! collect big time$ and that is the motive[and big motive it has grown to be too!!],..I dont pretend to have all the solutions, but hey, we do have the facts, and they are not the usual deal,,We! send ten thousand people to "the land of the poppy" and x amount gets addicted,, whooeee,, big surprise there eh??,,not!!...no, as so many say here,,, look after these people, before and especially after the action,,as it is the "after" that supplies the data that shows what is really going down,,from what we are seeing it is very clear that in many cases these days, it is!! OC[global] that starts wars, OC that prods and pokes the action, OC that then moves the drugs[all those heavy lifters are not!! going back empty,],.. It would be a good thing for all if some media types went to the wall and got the entire story, start to finish and published that story, in toto!!,..and not just the dribs and drabs that usually are fed into media by the very same OC that is doing the drug thang,,..clever, no??. not brilliant, but it is clever,..crims manipulating media, tell us it aint so!!,.. gosh golly gee, ya think??..BTW, leave the ground pounders alone,, they! are the victims of the story,,, follow the money$$ as per,, then tell us a story,, eh??btw, addict the person in the action and when they go home the crims have a ready customer[with a pension $$] and often some pals as well,, that is the plan in play,,,works, and that is why! they use it,..
Same thing happened to Russian Troops when they were there. Now US soldiers are stationed in a flyblown armpit of a country fighting a nonsense war with opium everywhere...what did you think would happen? Time to come home...leave Afghanistan sort itself out.
Well if the Liberal Demoncrats here in the States condone it and think it all should be legal what does the Commander in Chief expect to happen.... I mean who sets the example back at home...There are Laws you know, and well, if their selectively enforced like choosing parts of the Constitution to enforce and not others who is setting the example for our young people and especially the young military who are dealing with a tremendous amount of stresss and of course the Media, Americans enemy within, couldn't wait to find a story like this one to support the Administration in their anti-military slant while stroking them with words from the other side of their mouth...
In Vietnam the opposition Military and Political leaders purposely had their agents work to get Americans stoned or hooked on drugs which was a matter of daily norm for thousands, so I have no doubts since they appear to be using nearly the same "play book" as then with the same type of warfare which our American Generals still have no idea of how to deal with except give the enemy our plans in the Media to garner votes with I actually expected this to happen a couple of years ago..
Yup, these are Afghanistan's contributions to the world.
And for this, we spend our blood and treasure....
Our soldiers are coming home now with drug problems after spending years dealing with the psychological trama of killing and trying to keep from getting killed in the poppy capital of the world. What a shock. Welcome to the ravages of war. And let's make sure that they don't have the ability to substitute pot for heroine, so we can be sure they stay on the hard stuff. With luck they'll die before being able to collect on too much of the GI Bill. We should be ashamed, but this is all just business and there is no shame in business. Thank you President Bush. You did "a heck of a job".
what a disgusting country ! and group of people . none of the photos show clean living people from there .why send troops and money too them ?
I couldn't tell from the article, I wonder if the percentage of drug-taking troops is higher than the population back home? Not everyone is on the front lines....boredom can lead to experimentation.
I always find it interesting how the anti-war people do not seem to understand how America came to be and what it made it a great nation.....Same with nearly every other country on earth and how they came to be and just what has made it possible and safe for these anti-war people to be able to say what they are saying.
Anti-war people remind me of those cartoon wimps who hide behind big men and shake their fist and run their mouth and shout insults from a relatively safe place behind that big man.... Or little children hiding behind Daddy's or mostly Mommies skirt talking big stuff because the Mommy is their to protect them...
They have no clue, and you figure with the Islamic Hordes hijacking a few jets and crashing them into the twin towers that what happens overseas DOES have a HUGE effect on what happens here at home.
They hide behind Mommies skirt, meaning the Government Intelligence Agencies and the Military, running their mouth off about how war is so bad and doesn't solve anything because they absolutely have no clue and are relatively safe from having to be involved themselves and rely on other people to keep them safe, like Police, the Military and various Government Agencies. If they lived in Europe, especially eastern Europe, or in Israel, I believe the local people would "educate them" pretty quickly as to the reality of it all because over there they cannot hide behind "Mommies skirts" unless they choose to become a "Refuge" which is why "Refugees" are look upon with disfavor because other than women an children and old men, a Refugee is basically a coward running away and spouting all the anti-war dribble.
Here back at home, the enemies of our country rely on anti-war people to further their cause against the United States. Be they in the Media, who we all see constantly aid and abet the enemy by constantly reporting our Plans and war effort almost on a daily basis, as well as those Politicians who hope to garner the anti-war Votes, who also tell the enemy of our plans. So what does one expect..
Hey eddie s:
I am anti-war AND have a son who's an Iraqi Freedom vet.
Got any 'Mommies skirt' comment for me?
Eddie, you don't know anything about anti-war people. I am an activist, solid anti-war for all reasons.
My Father-in-Law fought from Guadalcanal to Okinawa with the Marines, I served in the marines for six years, and my son fought in Somalia, and the first Gulf War with the Marines. I expect that even with his father and his grandfather telling him not to that my Grandson will soon be a Marine. We don't have to be unpatriotic to see that the Industrial Military Complex is ruining this country and that America has been fighting unjust wars for 94 years.
Join up, earn your opinion or shut up.
Who over there has time to sit around getting drunk or stoned? The military doesn't play around with that stuff, it causes serious readiness and safety issues in the ranks. The real substance abuse problems happen when you get home and get out of the service.
When governments prohibit drugs they effectively and knowingly hand a monopoly on their sale to dangerous criminals and terrorists. Without a legal framework in which to operate, these black-market entities can always be expected to settle their disputes violently, while terrorizing many peaceful and innocent citizens in the process. Were the users of alcohol to blame for the St Valentines massacre in 1929? Of course not! It is just as naive to assume that one can compel all the users of Marijuana or Cocaine to simply quit, as it is to assume that all the users of Alcohol should have stopped drinking after the introduction of alcohol prohibition in 1919.
Nobody can be expected to obey bad laws, like ones that infringe on logic as well as the fundamental right to decide on what medicine or poison an individual adult may, or may not, ingest. The violence and the deaths ultimately arising from such bad public policy should always rest squarely on the shoulders of those ignorant imbeciles who are responsible for implementing and supporting such foolishness.
If you support prohibition then you support bank-rolling criminals and terrorists. There's simply no other logical way of looking at it.
I think you nailed it on the issue of prohibition. Interesting that one topic of debate at the recent summit was about fighting drug cartels and drug corruption. I read somewhere that the response was "sure, but can you please do something about the demand in the U.S.?". So it isn't even just an issue about the effects of prohibition here but the future and stability of other nations. Unfortunately, that is something that many Americans just can't comprehend.
Viet Nam re-enacted.
A big part of the motivation for creating the war in Viet Nam was for the CIA to get control of the Heroin traffic from the French.
The motivation for the war in Afghanistan is the same play with different actors.
Prior to 9/11 Afghanistan was a minor player in heroin traffic. Now Afghanistan heroin dominates the market.
This play goes way back - research Chinese Opium wars over 100 years ago where the Brits brought opium into China and sold it so they could get their silver back that the had spent on silk for the ladies and for other elitist colonial purposes.
This is part of the Rothschild/Rockefeller "elite" plan - endless war, impossible debt, police state, DEpopulation. The population is kept unaware and dumbed down with drugs illegal and legal.
That MSNBC is focusing on the troops who are following orders instead of the source of the problem is typical of the dinosaur press.
Fortunately the REAL perpetrators are all headed for prison at best.
Why is this news? Haven't we learned from Vietnam? It's amazing what the status quo will do to its people...and WE, The People...are taking this @!$%# like sheep. How long have we been there? How much have we spent? How many lives have we lost and how many innocent lives have we taken?
But, as long as we our iPhone, designer coffees and sitcoms to come home to we just bury our heads in the sand. "Nothing to see here folks, move along..."
Right on!
Zach Jacoby
(prophecy)
your soldiers are disgusting people, who photograph their mutilated victims...people who fight and those who don't. for sport.
be ashamed that they are a representation of your country if you are proud to reap the wealth that they plunder in the world. they are thieves as the worst of kings and dictators in the world today.
7 hours ago