MARIJUANA-SMOKING TROOPS BANNED FROM AFGHANISTAN

250 Soldiers Tested Positive For Illegal Drugs

OTTAWA - Some 250 soldiers who tested positive for drugs were not
allowed to serve in Afghanistan, the Canadian Forces confirmed yesterday.

According to documents obtained by CBC News, the army has tested
almost 7,000 soldiers since mandatory drug screening of troops headed
to Afghanistan began in 2006.

The results were for the period September 2006 to last May, which show
that most of the soldiers who failed tested positive for marijuana.
The report also said some military personnel were found to have traces
of harder drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine and amph-etamines in
their systems.

"When you want to send our soldiers there, you don't want to send kids
who are addicted or who have a drug problem. They have to be clean,"
said Liberal defence critic Denis Corderre.

As federal sports minister in 2001, Coderre was instrumental in
establishing the Montreal-based World Anti-Doping Agency, which has
long been a proponent of drug testing.

"Drug-free sport -- it's exactly the same thing as DND, those people
represent us," he said.

But it's also a safety issue, Coderre said. "It's a war mission, there
would be an extra problem to take care of -- a drug problem on the
field."

Canadian Armed Forces Brig.-Gen. Ian Poulter told CBC: "It's a
particular concern because we are in Afghanistan, they are in a combat
situation and they have to make split-second decisions, life or death,
and we need them to be able to do that without the influence of
illicit drugs."

Liberal Sen. Colin Kenny agreed: "It's a reflection of the society we
live in," he said. "A lot of young people use drugs. It would surprise
me if a lot of people who joined the Canadian Forces didn't, as well,"
said Kenny, adding that he would support the idea of across-the-board
drug testing in the Forces.

"The difference is the occupation. If you are handling weapons, you
become a danger to yourself and to your colleagues -- alcohol or
drugs, it doesn't matter."

Right now only soldiers pegged for deployment face mandatory drug
testing.