CHAPTER 7 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES

"The illegal use of drugs by members of the Armed Forces is a matter of concern that requires intensive, coordinated departmental effort for its control and elimination. The heavy responsibilities of members of the Armed Forces make drug abuse by any member a matter of serious concern which dictates intensive effort to eliminate it." (Report of the Department Task Force on Narcotic and Drug Abuse)

In this chapter we will discuss and try to familiarize you with the most common narcotics and dangerous drugs with which the Master-at-Arms (MA) may come in contact. The drug scene is ever changing and, based on availability and trend, a few drugs will be more popular at one time than another. Oftentimes a certain drug will become unpopular to drug abusers because of its high cost or because it is no longer considered "safe." A newer drug or revised version of an old drug will then take its place and become the "now thing."

COMMAND RELATIONSHIP TO DRUG ABUSE

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: State the Navy's policy on drug abuse in terms of an initial drug offense and the punishment awarded. Identify the maximum punishments the Navy imposes on unlawful possession and use of controlled substances.

Most drug abuse involves substances like marijuana, LSD, and heroin which have no legitimate medical use. However, some of the drugs that are abused-principally morphine, amphetamine, and the barbiturates-are invaluable tools for the physician who strives to cure and alleviate disease.

The important factor in drug abuse is the abuser, not the drug. Drugs have a definite place in our society and should be treated with respect. When drugs are abused, both the individual and society suffer. Because of this concern for the individual and society,

drug abuse and its related problems must be discussed fully.

Drug abuse has a particularly important consequence for the armed forces. Unlike civilians, those in military service have a special dependency on each other. The lives of everyone on a Navy ship may depend on the alertness of one person assigned to close certain watertight doors. Each member of the Seabee fire team is dependent on other team members for survival in a combat situation. There are no "passengers" in fighter aircraft or bombers. No commanding officer (CO) can trust the fate of his or her unit, ship, or plane to someone under the influence of drugs.

The drug abuser in military service is a definite security risk. For example, the drug abuser can be blackmailed by threat of exposure. The abuser can be led to sell or give away classified information to support a drug habit. Also, while under the influence of narcotics, the abuser may overlook or ignore proper security measures.

In military law, wrongful acts concerning

narcotics and marijuana have traditionally been charged as "conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline." In the past years, mandatory processing for separation of first-time drug abuse

offenders was expanded to include all officer and petty officer paygrades and this policy has been very effective in deterring drug abuse. But on 01 March 1992, the Navy changed its drug policy to fully support a "zero tolerance" to drug abuse. Effective that date, processing for separation of all first time drug abuse offenders for all Navy paygrades became mandatory, using the following policy:

A. All Navy personnel in paygrades E-1 and above who commit an initial drug offense shall be disciplined as appropriate, screened for drug dependency, and processed for separation. Individuals separated administratively or punitively who are medically diagnosed as drug dependent shall be offered Department of Veterans Affairs treatment at time of separation.

B. Self-referral for drug abuse is an incident of drug abuse and does not prevent a member from being administratively processed for separation.

C. For this policy to apply to drug abuse incidents identified through urinalysis, samples must be obtained on, or subsequent to 01 MAR 92.

Further information on separation of drug abuse individuals can be obtained from Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Control OPNAVLNST 5350.4, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), Article 112a.

The Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM) provides the following maximum punishments for wrongful use, possession, and so on, of controlled substances. See table 7-1.

As for the abuser-and potential abuser-of nonnarcotics, there is a growing recognition of the value of an educational, rather than a punitive approach. Through an energetic program of drug abuse education, the rate of those who experiment has declined.

NONNARCOTIC DRUG ABUSE

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Discuss the history of nonnarcotic drug abuse in the United States. List some of the nonnarcotic drugs that have been abused.

In years past, public attention has focused on the abuse of nonnarcotic drugs such as amphetamines (stimulants), barbiturates (sedatives), certain tranquilizers, and "hallucinogens." The growing trend toward abuse of these drugs was noted by the White House Conference on Narcotics and Drug Abuse in 1962. Much of the awareness has come from newspaper and magazine articles reporting widespread abuse of nonnarcotic drugs by high school and college youth. Though the extent of use is unknown, there is considerable evidence that the problem is growing. In 1966, the Medical Society of New York reported that while drug abuse in the city's high schools or the state's colleges was not extensive, marijuana, LSD, and similar drugs "may soon present ^{a dangerous problem."} The medical society report blamed this possibility, in part, on "frequent

Table 7-1.-Maximum Punishments for Controlled Substances

glorification of hallucinogens without adequate details regarding their danger." Subsequent reports by the American Medical Association (AMA) have further confirmed this study.

Public opinion has tended to regard the nonnarcotic abuser (except, perhaps, for the marijuana offender) with less harshness than the narcotic addict. In part, this may reflect the public's association of nonnarcotic drugs with occasional or "spree" use, the social acceptance and widespread use of amphetamines and barbiturates in legitimate medical therapy, and the availability of such drugs from other than underworld contacts. Also, while the dangers of narcotic addiction are acknowledged, the dangers inherent in many nonnarcotics have not been generally recognized.

The net result of this thinking has been to curtail misuse of nonnarcotics by laws aimed at the source rather than the user. Accordingly, in 1965, proceeding from a recommendation by the President's Advisory Commission on Narcotic and Drug Abuse, the Drug Abuse Control Amendments were added to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938. The purpose of these amendments was to eliminate illegal traffic in amphetamines, barbiturates, and drugs of abuse other than narcotics and marijuana. To enforce these amendments, a Bureau of Drug Abuse Control has been created under the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate distribution of amphetamines, barbiturates, and other abused nonnarcotic drugs.

In 1968, the Bureau of Drug Abuse Control and the Federal Bureau of Narcotics were merged into a single agency, the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD), in the Justice Department. In 1973 BNDD and several other agencies where combined to form the agency known as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

From 1968 to the present, drug abuse has grown at an alarming rate throughout the world, but especially in the United States.