UK Special Forces cocaine problem exposed as 200 dismissed over drug abuse

05 August 2023 , 16:14

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A Freedom of Information request revealed drug-testing teams visited military bases (Stock photo) (Image: Getty Images)

Almost 200 members of the armed forces’ most secret units have been booted out because of drug abuse.

A total of 197 troops serving in the SAS, the SBS, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, Special Forces Support Group and on nuclear submarines have all tested positive for Class A drugs like cocaine since 2012. A Freedom of Information request revealed drug-testing teams visited military bases where the troops were based 108 times in the last 10 years.

The MoD figures show cocaine is often the drug of choice – and almost 5,000 members of the armed forces have been sacked for failing drugs tests since 2017. The Army alone is losing the equivalent of an infantry battalion of troops every year. But the head of one veterans charity claims that dismissing the military drug-takers is a waste of money.

The Special Air Service crest

Dr Hugh Milroy, of Veterans Aid, said: “As an RAF officer who served for 17 years, I fully understand the operational implications of drug use, but it is a problem from which the armed forces are not immune. One solution might be to create a formal ‘Hands up for Help’ system, rather than initiate instant discharge.

“It would help with retention of expensively trained personnel – and stop the potential traffic from ‘service to streets’ that Veterans Aid is seeing.” An MoD spokesman said: “We robustly enforce a zero-tolerance policy to drug use. Drug consumption in the UK armed forces remains low and is significantly below the national average.”

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