FEWER SAILORS USING ILLICIT DRUGS

NORFOLK -- Had he been a civilian, Casey S. Cuccio might have gotten a
second chance.

But Cuccio is an 18-year-old petty officer third class, who, while
stationed aboard the fast frigate Carr, supplied his shipmates with Ecstasy
and cocaine.

For those offenses, a military judge sentenced Cuccio to at least 15 months
behind bars, stripped his pay and benefits and kicked him out of the Navy.

In recent months, career-ending cases like Cuccio's have quietly filled the
dockets in the courthouse at the Norfolk Naval Station.

That trend could change soon.

Navy officials said last week that the service's zero-tolerance approach,
combined with a massive increase in testing, may finally be stemming the
tide of Ecstasy and other illicit drugs within the service.

The total number of sailors testing positive for drugs in the last year has
dropped for the first time in four years, according to preliminary Navy
figures.

If trends continue through this month, this fiscal year could mark a record
low for detected drug use since the service started urinalysis testing in 1981.

In 2000, the Norfolk-based Atlantic Fleet discharged 1,060 of its newest
sailors because of drug use. So far in 2002 the number jumped to 1,341. But
the fleet also increased its drug testing by almost 50 percent.

The result? A drop in the percentage of positive drug tests among sailors.

"About a year and a half ago, I sent a message to all commanding officers
concerning an apparent increase in drug abuse among first-term sailors,"
Adm. Robert J. Natter, the commander in chief of the Navy's Atlantic Fleet,
said in a statement Friday. "I asked COs to address this problem with
education and increased testing."

About 10,300 officers and 100,000 enlisted sailors serve in the Atlantic Fleet.

The Navy is also the only service to see a decrease in Ecstasy use, with
the latest figures showing the service on course for a 25 percent reduction
this year compared to last year.

In the year ending Sept. 30, 2001, 434 sailors tested positive for Ecstasy.
So far in this fiscal year, 296 sailors have tested positive for the drug.

Several federal authorities said they do not believe that local sailors are
using Ecstasy at higher rates than the civilian population.

However, they cautioned, many sailors, especially those who are young and
single, are likely to visit clubs, bars and private parties where Ecstasy
is sold.

Ecstasy, known scientifically as methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, is
a psychoactive pill that typically induces feelings of euphoria and
dramatically raises blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. It
gained popularity in the 1990s at all-night dance parties known as raves.

Among high school seniors surveyed last year, 9 percent said they had tried
Ecstasy in the past year. College students reported similar usage.

In recent years, the Navy had kicked out more of its members than all of
the other services combined for drug use, according to independent media
reports. Ecstasy use, while still no more than 10 percent of all positive
drug tests in the Navy, also grew dramatically.

The issue is still sensitive enough that the Navy declined all interview
requests this week with senior military prosecutors and defense attorneys
about its Ecstasy cases.

But Greg Golden, special agent in charge for the Naval Criminal
Investigative Service field office in Norfolk, said his agents' efforts,
combined with other federal agencies, have produced results.

"Drugs don't stop at the gate," Golden said. "But drug use is down and down
significantly.

"I talked to some of my senior guys and after the increase in the last
couple of years, it seems to be tapering off."

But Greg McCormack, whose law practice specializes in local military cases,
disagreed.

Last year, McCormack, a Virginia Beach attorney, represented an airman at
Langley Air Force Base in Hampton who was busted by an undercover agent on
an Ecstasy-related charge. He also represents a sailor facing court-martial
in the Carr case.

McCormack warned that the armed forces shouldn't predict the end of the
Ecstasy surge among its ranks too soon.

"I don't think it's leveled off," he said. "I think it's still out there
and I think it's got to be the drug of most concern to the Navy."

Most drug cases never reach courts-martial. They are handled through a
less-severe judicial process known as Captain's Mast.

Unlike the growing drug-court phenomenon in the civilian world,
rehabilitation does not appear to be part of the Navy's anti-drug use strategy.

Approximately 94 percent of sailors who test positive for illegal drugs are
removed from the service, said William Flannery, head of the alcohol and
drug abuse prevention branch at the Navy's Personnel Command Headquarters
in Millington, Tenn.

"Our mission is much different from other civilians. Our mission is to
protect the American freedom," Flannery said last week. "We're the fighting
force, and drug use is a cancer on the effectiveness in mission readiness
and poses potential dangers for us all."

Exceptions can be made for those sailors, for example, who successfully
argue they did not knowingly ingest the illegal drug.

The cases in the Navy that usually reach court-martial involve the
distribution of illegal drugs, attorneys said.

This year, Cuccio and three other junior sailors once stationed aboard the
Norfolk-based Carr were charged with drug-related crimes. Prosecutors and
naval criminal investigators declined to discuss the case, but Cuccio's
attorney said the crimes were uncovered by an undercover agent.

Cuccio's sentence is now under review by the Navy's Mid-Atlantic Regional
Command.

Seaman David F. Weller, 20, pleaded guilty to unauthorized absence,
possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, illegal use and
distribution of marijuana, and illegal use of Ecstasy on Aug. 7. He
received a 12-month sentence and a bad conduct discharge.

On Sept. 23, Petty Officer 3rd Class Cameron D. Grantham, 23, received two
years behind bars, reduction in rate to seaman, forfeiture of all pay and
allowances, and a bad conduct discharge.

Seaman Frank E. Crim, 20, the fourth defendant who has been held in the
brig since April, will face Ecstasy-related charges at an upcoming
court-martial. McCormack said Crim intends to plead not guilty.

Natter said this week that he believes that an overwhelming number of
sailors understand and abide by the Navy's strict drug policy.

"But for that fraction of a percent that just don't get it, my message to
them is clear," he said. "There is no place for drug abusers in the Navy."