American troops and drugs - a growing problem

[Jack]

After two long-running wars with escalating levels of combatstress, more than 110,000 active-duty Army troops last year were taking prescribed antidepressants, narcotics, sedatives, antipsychotics and anti-anxiety drugs, according to figures recently disclosed to The Times by the U.S. Army surgeon general. Nearly 8% of the active-duty Army is now on sedatives and more than 6% is on antidepressants — an eightfold increase since 2005.

"We have never medicated our troops to the extent we are doing now.... And I don't believe the current increase in suicides and homicides in the military is a coincidence," said Bart Billings, a former military psychologist who hosts an annual conference on combat stress.

The pharmacy consultant for the Army surgeon general says the military's use of the drugs is comparable to that in the civilian world. "It's not that we're using them more frequently or any differently," said Col. Carol Labadie. "As with any medication, you have to look at weighing the risk versus the benefits of somebody going on a medication."

But the military environment makes regulating the use of prescription drugs a challenge compared with the civilian world, some psychologists say.

Follow-up appointments in the battlefield are often few and far between. Soldiers are sent out on deployment typically with 180 days' worth of medications, allowing them to trade with friends or grab an entire fistful of pills at the end of an anxious day. And soldiers with injuries can easily become dependent on narcotic painkillers.

"The big difference is these are people who have access to loaded weapons, or have responsibility for protecting other individuals who are in harm's way," said Grace Jackson, a former Navy staff psychiatrist who resigned her commission in 2002, in part out of concerns that military psychiatrists even then were handing out too many pills.

For the Army and the Marines, using the drugs has become a wager that whatever problems occur will be isolated and containable, said James Culp, a former Army paratrooper and now a high-profile military defense lawyer. He recently defended an Army private accused of murder, arguing that hismental illness was exacerbated by the antidepressant Zoloft.

"What do you do when 30-80% of the people that you have in the military have gone on three or more deployments, and they are mentally worn out? What do you do when they can't sleep? You make a calculated risk in prescribing these medications," Culp said.

For Army troops, prescription drugs may add to fog of war - latimes.com

Multiple deployments must end. Every soldier deserves and needs a break in between every deployment, and I think two year-long deployments ought to be the maximum for any individual on the front line.

[Thanatos]

We should also do something about our society's crippling addiction to prescription drugs. Vicodin sells a little too well...

Prescription drug abuse surged 400 percent in past decade - CSMonitor.com

[ruksak]

The numbers in the OP (concerning drug abuse) seem far better than the numbers for civilians.

As far as the soldiers go, I wish they'd stop using PTSD as an excuse to kill their ex-girlfriends new boyfriend etc.

[ruksak]

We should also do something about our society's crippling addiction to prescription drugs. Vicodin sells a little too well...

Prescription drug abuse surged 400 percent in past decade - CSMonitor.com

It's time to target the dealers. Multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical companies. They should be held liable for flooding our streets with drugs that kill more people than all other illegal drugs combined.

[Angry Citizen]

The numbers in the OP (concerning drug abuse) seem far better than the numbers for civilians.

As far as the soldiers go, I wish they'd stop using PTSD as an excuse to kill their ex-girlfriends new boyfriend etc.

Spoken like someone who has never seen combat, perhaps?

[ruksak]

Spoken like someone who has never seen combat, perhaps?

You mean like many of these "soldiers" suffering from PTSD? Their trauma is no more or less traumatic than mine.

What happens is many of these fuckers get out of the military, have no direction, so they decide to lie to a doctor (can't sleep at night, nightmares, boo-hoo, etc), to get narcotic scripts, take too many, drink too much and kill someone. Enter the pleas for leniency because they are deposed "heros".

To be clear, I think PTSD is a real thing....I also believe it is abused and used as a crutch.

[gallo]

...and I think two year-long deployments ought to be the maximum for any individual on the front line.

I certainly hope you mean "two, year-long deployments" and not "two year-long deployments."

[Jack]

I certainly hope you mean "two, year-long deployments" and not "two year-long deployments."

Yes, I meant two one-year deployments. Living in conditions of near constant fear for your life 24/7, 365 days in a row is enough for any individual.

[sulh-i-kul]

What good can come out of using this "drug" category in this context? Are you using it because you see great potential for silly conversations?
I've spotted two mentions of specific drugs: Vicodin and Zoloft.

Hopefully Thanatos has some experience with Vicodin. How is it different from the oxycodone-based compounds people are more likely to have used? They don't make you crazy and they're awesome. I'm certainly grateful for having been provided with them.
"Multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical companies" make good products and they're not adverising them inappropriately in countries where advertising is regulated in a reasonable manner. I know insane North-American regulators are cracking down on these products because they "kill" people as ruksak wrote. Sure, there are much safer drugs like pot but they don't cut it.
I can see why many soldiers might need opiods and anti-inflamatory drugs. Why would you want to deny them? If this is a matter of abuse, surely abuse can be monitored rationally. The amount of soldiers who have used a particular drug, a class of drugs or drugs in general is not an abuse metric.

The article states 6% of "the active-duty Army" is on anti-depressants such as Zoloft. I've never used an anti-depressant but I've witnessed scary reactions. And this type of drugs is known to make a minority of users batshit insane. So I can see why that would be a concern.
One has to wonder why soldiers on psychiatric drugs aren't discharged or at least stripped of weapons, barred from using heavy machinery and put on non-combat duty until they're stable. Instead, some of you seem to be intent on blaming the drugs or the company making the drugs.

Stimulants might also be a concern. Anyone has info on stimulant use in the US military (besides caffein)?

It seems to me that the abuse we should be concerned about is not drug abuse but the abuse of people foolish enough to have volunteered for service in the US military. In order to avoid a draft while pursuing criminal wars, your government is coercing people into additional deployments and sending the National Guard overseas. If no one was pressed into more than one involuntary deployment and more healthy recruits were drafted to replace the less healthy volunteers, drugs wouldn't be such of an issue, would they?

[ruksak]

Hopefully Thanatos has some experience with Vicodin. How is it different from the oxycodone-based compounds people are more likely to have used? They don't make you crazy and they're awesome. I'm certainly grateful for having been provided with them.

I have experience with them...and yes....they're frickin awesome for pain. They are also extremely addictive. Many medical experts have equated the physical and psychological addiction to that of cocaine.

As a street drug, prescription pain killers are becoming intensely popular among drug users because of their purity and accurately measured doses. Meth, heroin and cocaine vary wildly in purity, to a point whereas people cannot be sure what exactly comprises the drug they've bought. Aside from adverse affects of contaminants used to "cut" the product, the manipulation of the compound also blurs the perceived proper dosage required for the desired affect.

All this may relate a perception of safety until one considers the statistics. Death by overdose of prescription pain killers outnumbers overdose deaths of the "dirty" street drugs, cocaine and heroin, combined.

one of many sources>>
Vicodin Rehab Programs | The Canyon - Malibu, California

"Multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical companies" make good products and they're not adverising them inappropriately in countries where advertising is regulated in a reasonable manner.

Though I believe there are laws against advertising narcotic opiates, I have some issue with your statement above. I feel that it should be illegal to advertise ANY prescription drug on public airwaves, mail or electronic mail. These are powerful medicines with dangerous and often unforeseen side effects.

Here is an excellent read highlighting my concern with the strange business of advertising these powerful medicines.

A cute, animated ball bounces around very sadly until he takes a magic potion; suddenly, it becomes happier than ever. No, that isn't the plot of a new children's movie. On the contrary, it's the storyline of a Zoloft commercial – yes, Zoloft, a powerful antidepressant drug. In the 1990s, direct-to-consumer advertising like this increased at a compounded-annually rate of 30 percent, according to Ian Morrison's book, Health Care in the New Millennium.
Take, for example, a Paxil commercial that was recently popular. At the beginning of the commercial, the typical 30-something-year-old woman is standing outside a house, looking through the window at the happy party going on inside. She looks so lonely and depressed that it must break nearly every consumer's heart. "What's wrong with her?" we compassionate humans gasp in unison. The voiceover answers our question as we think it: The woman has social anxiety disorder, a condition that can be treated with the prescription drug Paxil.

Suddenly, the now-medicated woman rings the doorbell and, with a huge smile on her face, joins the party. We see how much fun she is having and we are so happy for her! Of course, the voiceover quickly goes through the list of Paxil's potential side effects, but how can we concentrate on that, when we're so busy rejoicing at the woman's new happiness?

It seems to me that the abuse we should be concerned about is not drug abuse but the abuse of people foolish enough to have volunteered for service in the US military. In order to avoid a draft while pursuing criminal wars, your government is coercing people into additional deployments and sending the National Guard overseas. If no one was pressed into more than one involuntary deployment and more healthy recruits were drafted to replace the less healthy volunteers, drugs wouldn't be such of an issue, would they?

On all this I agree. The military recruiters are snakes that prey on our children while they're still in school, and we must keep this in mind when criticizing peoples choice to enlist, however. Again, advertising has gotten quite clever in this respect. Due to the popularity of FPS (first person shooter) video games such as Call Of Duty, the military has begun to sell the "fun" of killing brown people in a whole new way.



Sadly, for many young people, the game ends with the real loss of life and limb and no reset button to make the horror go away. All for causes that are quite unclear and charged with political/financial motive.

[sulh-i-kul]

They are also extremely addictive. Many medical experts have equated the physical and psychological addiction to that of cocaine.

I don't think you can compare "addiction" like that but even if the comparison was valid, so what?
All drugs have side-effects. If don't know about the stuff in Vicodin but the side effects of oxycodone are negligible compared to the benefits in many cases. And soldiers are going to need pain killers...

As a street drug, prescription pain killers are becoming intensely popular among drug users because of their purity and accurately measured doses.

The category "prescription pain killers" is an invitation for silliness in this context.
Vicodin isn't close to being pure. It's 99% paracetamol, a deadly non-prescription drug which interacts with common drugs such as alcohol and caffein. Abuse Vicodin and you'll destroy your liver. It's not the most pleasant way to die. A real junkie wouldn't want to use that crap on a regular basis.

Death by overdose of prescription pain killers outnumbers overdose deaths of the "dirty" street drugs, cocaine and heroin, combined.

So what? Prescription pain killers and are not comparable and neither are "street drugs". But some "street drugs" can be compared to some prescription pain killers while others can be compared to some non-prescription pain killers.

Do you have a statistic for overdose deaths that can be attributed to opiods and not the stuff they're cut with?
If people are dying because sufficiently pure opiods aren't available, the obvious solution would be to increase their availability.

I feel that it should be illegal to advertise ANY prescription drug on public airwaves, mail or electronic mail. These are powerful medicines with dangerous and often unforeseen side effects.

So what? Non-prescription drugs are dangerous as well. And the advertising targetting medical professionals or their patients is dangerous too.
You are overreacting. Dangerous drugs can be advertised responsibly and thereby help people. Some advertising is necessary and MDs are always the best channel.
Prohibition isn't the easy solution it's made to look. Haven't we learned this by now?

[sulh-i-kul]

s/MDs are always/MDs aren't always/