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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 $1.4 billion, or about one-tenth of the country's GDP.
Associated Press writer Pauline Jelinek contributed to this report.
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My God, the news from Afghanistan just gets worse and worse! I'll say it again: BAD WARS MAKE GOOD TROOPS GO BAD. Are you sure you want to inherit this mess, Mitt Romney?
The ONLY surprise about this is, why did it take this long to be written about.
NOT IF,,,, BUT WHEN?
I cannot imagine any PERSON thinking that use of heroin by soldiers patrolling in the LARGEST HEROIN producing region in THE WORLD would not be a MAJOR concern.........................
COME-ON REALLY???????
More important how much was brought back into the USA ??????
MOST of these "troops" are nothing more than white trash morons who would have ended up in jail instead of the army. Most american kids are complete @!$%#s and are spoiled brats as well. Put those two things together and you will get disgusting behavior by total jerks.
The RIGHT thing to do is clean up the army with real leadership instead of more of the same bull@!$%# We should also realize what @!$%#s we really are by ust saying bring them home. They should be brought home to JAIL. Why don't you people feel sorry for their INNOCENT VICTIMS ? Because most of ou are jerks and @!$%#s ...
You are something else. Your President is keeping these fine men and women in this useless war. YOU are blaming the wrong people. Washington is doing all that you speak of. NOT the American soldier. YOU my friend either need a history lesson on what America is, or YOU need to be jailed as a traitor. The Soldiers are the victims.
you sir are an idiot...bring them home to jail?....are you out of your @!$%#ing mind?...you dont know what you are talking about....
you stated..."MOST of these "troops" are nothing more than white trash morons who would have ended up in jail instead of the army. Most american kids are complete @!$%#s and are spoiled brats as well. Put those two things together and you will get disgusting behavior by total jerk"
Most of them?....are you sure about that?...i think you are the total jerk for disrespecting these young men and women who fight and die because they are sent by greedy old men to fight these "perpetual wars"
our men and women are the innocent victims of corrupt policies put forward by thieving politicians...many will pay for this , the rest of their lives...
@ Conrad, I get the impression that there aren't enough ginormous prisons in the world for all the people you would populate them with. Let me guess, you would be warden?
To make sure the military gets out now the 'media community' will discredit the entire military system. And of course ALL the political system will agree with them for fear of NOT being elected again. You know like Paneta! The Joint Chiefs of Staff should stop all of this now. Go to the President (yeah I know) and tell him to stop this. NOT ALL MILITARY PERSONNEL WILL COME HOME AS DRUG ADDICTS! The ones that went in drug addicts will naturally return addicts! This is a discredit to the real military personnel who come home as good citizens.
Even when serving in the military, Americans just can't do without their drugs it seems.
whiskey is good though, right?....there is more death and destruction due to alcohol than ever and it is legally sanctioned...thats good right?
humans have been using drugs from the beginning of our existence and will to the end of it
Time to chase the woman and other rear echelon troops into the field and give the infantrymen a rest. 85% of the troops are in the rear areas giving away the US Aid money for nation building. Also "Can" old man Panetta. Buck stops there. He has $150 million of new construction at Ft Campbell, Ky while he tells the reporters he has reduced spending. Just like his predecessor, Republican Gates. If a think tank could count the money that man and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have wasted? All republicans.
We have been all through this during the Vietnam war when thousands of American solders came home addicted to drugs. The stress of combat, constant fear the this day may be your last, long tours extended again and sometimes again. Our troops are human and have been stressed to the breaking point.
Addiction is a disease; it is a coping mechanism, not the best but for some its the only coping mechanism. Our solders should not be prosecuted but medically treated. We expect them to give everything including their lives and families from and give little back.
Help them, not prosecute them. They are trying to cope in a land as distance from the United States in terrain and culture as an astronaut living inside a space capsule in orbit for months at a time and only a few qualify to be astronauts. These are men and women transported from a country in the 21st century to one that is barely in the 17th century. Let us obligate ourselves to bringing them home safe and drug free, not to a federal prison.
I have never supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but I support our troops and always will. These are our brothers and sisters, our fathers and mothers, our friends. Let us not take them for granted but celebrate their contribution to the United States. All are hero's and deserve our adulation.
What would one expect?
The U.S. Military appears to be the most disorganized organization in the world. Apparently the primary reason for its existence is to keep the global arms manufacturing purring along. In the meantime, millions of lives are lost due to their erratic actions. Genocide is rife nowadays, and who profits the most is t he pressing question.
That is a forgone conclusion!
Anyone remember Vietnam? This stuff went on then and it's no surprise it's going on now. Question for those who might know - Why weren't the US troops allowed to destroy all the poppy fields?? Answer - Because drug trafficking is controlled by the US DEA and other government agencies. 90% of the Heroin in the world comes from those very fields our men and woman are walking thru every day why not destroy them? Because it would effect the bottom line here in America. No more drugs means no more need for more DEA officers. No more addicts means no more money for drug addiction clinics. No more need for more prisons. No more need for more cops. No more need for alot of things see where i'm going with this. Drugs are good for business.
GTF out now, and let these primitives return to their tradition of killing each other.
This is news!?! Soilders have always utilized what was in the occupied zone. A lot of soilders that used opium and heroin in Vietnam dropped the stuff when they returned home. A small percentage remained addicted. Leave them alone, I say.
Get us the HELL out of there!!!!!
Seems as if I recall the Taliban was trying to eliminate the opium trade when they were in power, and those fighting them were using the profits of the trade. Reponsible, politically correct governments of course say they are against psychotropic, self prescribed drugs. Those on the outside of power, by default become involved in the trade. By the way, next time you show us a slide show, show a couple of poppy fields. At least they are pretty.
-exactly like Vietnam
Read my comment below.
This situation is nothing at all like Vietnam.
Were you in Viet Nam???
Airborne 7 is exactly correct.
If the intent of the news media and war chest brass is to cause IIED against the parents of active-duty soldiers in the United States Armed forces today serving in the Middle East - you accomplished your mission.
That fact is not going to be dismissed when enough of us draft a petition against this administration for failing to make sound, reasonable decisions to bring them back to the United States.
This nation is not going to change the entire world and it is NOT our duty to the United Nations to effect this change as police.
If this man that occupies the White House does not act in returning our enlisted troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq back to the United States very soon, he risks facing their parents in Washington's District Court.
I know I have had enough of this bull@!$%#.
These are our future young Americans that none of the corporate media cares about but is using this to compare to Vietnam conflict as if it were a repeated combat situation, and it is hardly the same.
These young soldiers fight nothing but IED's tossed on the open road and we do not know who exactly is dumping them - civilians or this alleged al Quaida.
They are fighting an unseen enemy.
That is the legal question.
How many years will it take for United States citizens to see there is nothing there that these soldiers are fighting except people that drop an IED or two each day in their path.
Do you know who is doing that?
Civilians?
Someone else?
If you cannot answer that with facts to substantiate this then you had better book a flight and bring them home.
So help me God I will draft that document myself. And I am an excellent writer of the law.
You had better listen.
None of these reporters or Golden Brass in the Pentagon are worth my young fellow American's lives, as they sit in their chairs made of gold, smoking cigars, drinking cognac, and playing chess with living human beings.
Try to use what little brain cells you have and remember who sent our troops to Afghanistan and Iraq. In case your small mind can remember or comprehend this, it was the Bush Administration, Obama is just trying to clean up his and the Republicans mess.
They used the tragedy of 911 to break, bend and make laws to suit their agenda. They exploited 911 to advance their political agendas and dummies like you brought it.
Kevin Reeves - Correct - and Al Quaeda was started, funded by and is still controlled by the CIA/MI6/Mossad.
Mackie - the REAL enemy is easily seen - but you have to be willing to LOOK.
When I got to Vietnam in '71, one of the first things we got was the drug lecture by an Army specialist. As part of the lecture, he passed around several examples of the drugs available in country such as marijuana joints and heroin vials. After the lecture, I asked him if he ever lost any of his "exhibits" while they were being passed around. He said he rarely did, but then said he had given several lectures to newbie Army troops where he passed around six joints and when he collected everything at the end of the lecture, he had ten or eleven joints. So it sounds like some things in the military never change. Far out, man.
You were able to see an enemy. These kids see nothing but an IED left on the road. They are fighting nothing but a bomb.
No, this is not the same as Vietnam. It isn't a jungle is it.
I know the reason for the heroin, morphine or other opiates use. It is so hard to find good california pot there.
For those that wish to test poor people. GFY. Not until they test rich people, congress, CEO's, Educators too.
All Americans recieve benifits from government. ALL. So stop picking the elderly, weak, poor and disabled.
Testing poor people is just one of the many free benefits of welfare. If the rich want tested let them test themselves.
@tiredofitall14
Hey guy, I have an idea. Why don't you serve over there and see how tough you are. Yes, volunteer for testing everyday as you are on the government dole. Smart asses like you need to be muzzled when you have neither the guts nor the experience to speak to this problem. Perhaps you're a psychologist and have all the answers to deal with stressful @!$%#. My suggestion is that you man up and get your ass over there and see how easy it is to be on the precipice of being blown up 24/7. When you do that, you may make a comment.
hell yes there using drugs what the hell do you think most of them were doing before they joined up? there nothing but a bunch of wet behind the ears trigger happy drug users that couldnt propect a kindergarden class room, get the hell out of there shoulndt have been there in the first place and after 10 years if you cant wip the tally band you dont need to be there wasting out money are you paying any mind to what i am saying odummy? screw 2014 get the hell out now
...duh, sort of like the fox guarding the chicken coup....duh
The seduction of evil lies in trying to eliminate it. It was called "chasing the dragon", smokable heroin in Viet Nam. Odorless, colorless, we smoked right in front of our officers. We packed vials into body cavities in Graves Registration. It took 40 yrs and a movie with Denzel for America to learn what happened to us. Our gift to you America, the war and all it's trimmings gifted to you. It don't mean nothin, nothin at all.
Gee, The DoD saved the press release from 1967 they wrote explaining why the drug use by troops in 'Nam was just an isolated thing and the ARVN and local cops wern't involved supplying US grunts.Swap out everything afghan, insert Vietnamese, and its the same story. Actually W and baracks afghan war, is kind of the same story as nam. To late to avoid the same type of results either. Nam was peace with honor wasn't it? wonder how they will spin the afghan collapse.
The spin, as always, will be for the Bankster cult controlled politicians to distract and create another war.
This time on American soil??
Or maybe first - recolonization of Africa - that seems to be the intermin plan.
This is common place in this god forsaken country. Our troops deserve better. This is a conflict that can never e won. The Russians tried and lost.
I can't believe the military didn't plan for this. Is cheney still in charge?
No, Cheney left and there are no adults in charge any more. Sorry
Deficits don't matter!
Cheney went a little funny in the head due to shell shock while hiding in the basement of the White House on 9/11 with a SS agent sitting on his head, just waiting for a 747 to plow into them. Had an Atlas Complex ever since