MILITARY STARTS CRACKDOWN ON 'PARTY DRUGS'

SAN DIEGO -- Alarmed by the rising use of Ecstasy and other "party
drugs" by military personnel at bases nationwide and abroad, the Navy
is striking back by increasing random drug testing, booting out
first-time offenders and court-martialing anyone caught selling
narcotics at military facilities.

Although the number of personnel who test positive for drug use still
is tiny in the active-duty force of 1.4 million, military brass are
worried that the growing popularity of a new crop of drugs will
reverse the military's two-decade-long pattern of declining drug use
among its troops.

"This is one of the most serious threats to shipboard safety we've
seen since the drug testing program began" in 1981, said Capt.
Stephen Squires, skipper of the amphibious transport Denver.

Squires required all 380 officers and enlisted sailors to submit a
urine sample as the ship steamed back to San Diego after a port call
in May to the party town of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

To Squires' delight, none of his crew tested positive, although in
the last year he has recommended that 10 crew members, including one
officer, be discharged for drug use.

Like numerous other ship captains, he has ordered more testing on
weekends and Mondays to catch any sailor who may have used Ecstasy or
other drugs, particularly at weekend "rave parties," where such drugs
often are sold.

A stimulant and hallucinogenic, Ecstasy is increasingly popular among
civilians ages 18 to 30, the age group that constitutes 75 percent of
military personnel. Other club drugs include the banned tranquilizer
ketamine, and Rohypnol, also known as "roofies."

Last month, Adm. Thomas Fargo, commander in chief of the Pacific
Fleet, sent a message to all Navy commanders in the region ordering
them to redouble efforts to stop the spread of these new drugs.

Along with increased testing, Navy officials have begun sending
undercover agents to rave parties, which often are large all-night
gatherings with dancing and loud techno music.

The Navy in San Diego also is attempting to dispel two widespread
myths about Ecstasy: that it has no long-term effects and that it
cannot be detected in a urine test.

Senior enlisted personnel are being asked to counsel younger sailors
that Ecstasy use is illegal and can lead to brain damage.

"We'd rather get out in front of the problem than clean up after it,"
said Cmdr. Maureen Alexander of the Navy's drug and alcohol program
management office.

Navy officials are particularly concerned about drug use aboard
aircraft carriers, where young sailors are given responsibility for
guiding $40 million warplanes around a crowded and noisy flight deck.

A carrier flight deck often is called the most dangerous workplace in
the military, where any lapse of concentration can be fatal.

It was a crash aboard the carrier Nimitz in 1981 that led the Defense
Department to institute random drug testing. Although the crash was
not caused by drug use, autopsies showed that six of 14 sailors and
Marines killed had recently smoked marijuana.

Four sailors aboard the carrier Stennis were busted this year after
undercover agents bought several thousand dollars worth of Ecstasy
and other drugs from them.

One of the Stennis sailors has been sentenced to 40 months in prison,
the second to 30 months; both were given dishonorable discharges. The
other two are awaiting trial.

"We popped a guy on the Stennis who was doing 10 (tablets of Ecstasy
and ketamine) a night," said Michael Tompkins, supervising special
agent with the Naval Criminal Investigation Service office in San
Diego. "His brain was fried."

A lieutenant commander aboard the carrier Constellation, who had a
19-year spotless record, was sentenced to five years in prison after
being convicted of running an Ecstasy sales ring. One enlisted sailor
also got five years, and another, with lesser involvement, four
months.

"Within the past year, club drugs have become our No. 1 court-martial
prosecution for drugs," said senior prosecutor Lt. Cmdr. Paul LeBlanc.

Of 2.3 million urine tests given to military personnel last year,
1,070 came back positive for Ecstasy, a tenfold increase over 1998.

Newer recruits are thought to be particularly susceptible to the
blandishments of drug dealers. Many are away from home for the first
time, and all have a steady income.

"I can't tell you the number of (civilian) dealers who have told us
that military personnel are their best customers," Tompkins said.