DRUG TESTING SNARES 250 CANADIAN SOLDIERS

Those WHO Test Positive Not Allowed to Serve in Afghanistan

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

According to documents obtained by CBC News, the military has tested
almost 7,000 soldiers since mandatory drug testing of personnel 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 amphetamines 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," said Liberal defence
critic Denis Coderre.

"They have to be clean."

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 told CanWest News
Service.

"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 News: "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 Senator 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, who told CanWest News Service 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 if you are abusing
substances -- if its alcohol or drugs, it doesn't matter."

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