NEW HIGH IN NUMBER OF COUNTY'S SOLDIERS USING ILLEGAL DRUGS

The number of Kent soldiers failing random drugs tests is rising, new
figures reveal.

Eight troops from county regiments tested positive in 2003, but that leapt
to 32 last year.

In all, there were 92 positive tests among Kent soldiers in the last five
years.

And a Kent-based drugs charity has warned some troops are using drugs to
"self-medicate" as they try to come to terms with seeing friends maimed and
killed in combat.

Since 2003, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, who are based in
Canterbury, had the most servicemen who tested positive 62.

Last November, it emerged that 17 troops from the battalion were to be
dismissed after testing positive for drugs. They had just returned from a
break in the Mexican resort of Cancun.

Another four soldiers from the Argylls tested positive in 2007, according
to figures obtained by Kent on Sunday using a Freedom of Information request.

Of the remaining positive tests in the last five years, 22 were in Kent's
County Regiment, The 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
(1PWRR), seven were in 2PWRR and one was in Maidstone-based 36 Engineer Reg.

There were no positive drug tests in the 1st and 2nd Battalions, Royal
Gurkha Rifles, who have their regimental headquarters in Shorncliffe,
Folkestone.

Soldiers from 3PWRR, which is a Territorial Army unit, do not have
compulsory drug tests.

Godfrey Featherstone is director of the Yalding-based drug rehabilitation
charity, Kenwood Trust, which has 10 clinics with more than 100 beds.

He said soldiers sometimes took drugs as a way of coping with psychological
problems caused by warfare.

"We do have people from the Army coming to us and without doubt they have
suffered psychological problems from being on the battlefield," he said.

"They often have post-traumatic stress disorder caused by being under fire
constantly, caused by being under pressure and seeing people maimed and killed.

"They have flashbacks - visual images that come into their minds with no
provocation.

"Therefore, they continue to self-medicate using whatever is available,
whether it be alcohol or drugs."

The Ministry of Defence said only a fraction of soldiers took drugs.

A spokesman for the MoD said: "The increase in individuals testing positive
for drugs is a reflection of society as a whole in which drugs are more
readily available and cheaper to buy than ever before and usage has become
increasingly popular."

Most troops are sacked after failing drugs tests.

But the MoD spokesman said: "Positive rates in the Army over the last four
years average around 0.7 per cent, compared with over seven per cent in
civilian workplace drug testing programmes in the UK.

"These demonstrate that drug misuse is significantly less prevalent among
service personnel than in corresponding civilian demographic groups."

In an interview with KoS last month, Kent's most senior Army officer,
Brigadier Iain James, defended the military's tough treatment of soldiers
caught taking drugs.

He said at the time: "The last thing you want to have is young men and
women operating high-tech, dangerous equipment in complex situations who
are perhaps under the influence of strange substances.

"I certainly wouldn't want to have somebody flying my helicopter, or
driving my car, or standing next to me with a rifle, just after he stuck a
couple of pills down his neck."

The MoD was unable to say how many of the Kent soldiers who tested positive
for drugs were sacked or retained and what substances they had been using.