GAGETOWN DRUG USE 'A LOT LESS' THAN FIRST REPORTED

One out of 20 military personnel at CFB Gagetown have either tested
positive for illegal drugs or admitted to using them, Defence
Department data released Thursday shows.

Cmdr. Denise Laviolette, department spokeswoman, said that's "a lot
less" than reported last month by Maritime media outlets.

In fact, Fredericton's Daily Gleaner ran a story stating between 16
and 18 per cent of soldiers tested at the base were caught with drugs
ranging from marijuana to heroin in their system. Some reports were
as high as 25 per cent, she said.

"There were numerous articles that indicated very high numbers (and)
that there was a problem," she said Thursday from Ottawa. "At the
time, we couldn't provide specific information because we still had
to await some of the testing."

But results released Thursday show that "95 per cent tested
negative," Cmdr. Laviolette said, adding testing is still ongoing so
totals have yet to be tallied.

So far, testing has turned up more than 70 soldiers with illicit
drugs in their system, or five per cent out of almost 1,400 personnel
tested between September and mid-November.

"Everybody that's going to Afghanistan is undergoing what we call
safety-sensitive drug testing," Cmdr. Laviolette said. About 2,200
soldiers were scheduled to head overseas in February.

However, Cmdr. Laviolette said 75 military personnel won't be making
the journey to Afghanistan because they will be undergoing an
administrative review. In total, 72 Canadian Forces members are being
reviewed for drug use and three others are being reviewed for breach
of regulations, she said.

"The members who tested positive have all been removed from the
rotation pending the results of the administrative review," Cmdr.
Laviolette said. Disciplinary action could range from counselling and
probation to release from the Canadian Forces, she said.The only
exception that would allow a soldier back into the rotation heading
to Afghanistan is if he or she has a valid medical reason for testing
positive or turning over a diluted sample.

"If you happen to have a legitimate prescription for, let's say,
Tylenol with codeine, you would test positive," she explained. "In
those circumstances, obviously you've done nothing wrong and there
wouldn't be a reason to continue with the administrative review."

Dan Middlemiss, director of the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies at
Dalhousie University in Halifax, said many people in the military
were skeptical of the high percentage of drug use initially reported
in the New Brunswick media.

"It was based on an unattributed rumour," he said. "It just shows you
why the good media are cautious in reporting these things as only
rumours and not fact."

Cmdr. Laviolette said drug use in the Canadian military appears to be
either lower or equal to the general public across the country.

"We are a reflection of society."