High at the Mountain Post-U.S Soldiers coming back with drug problem

[RamboLiberal]

Gee, I thought this all-volunteer military didn't have a drug problem like those hippie-freak draftees of the Vietnam era. :sarcasm: Put them through hell and stop-loss, no wonder they are turning to drugs and alcohol to ease the pain and the nightmares!

They were prepared for war. They were prepared to die for their country. But Fort Carson soldiers say they weren't prepared to come home and fight a different battle -- addiction to illegal drugs.

Many of this country's bravest men and women who volunteered to defend America in a time of war have come home wounded -- physically and mentally -- and are turning to illicit drugs as they adjust to normal life, according to soldiers, health experts and advocates.

"Lots of soldiers coming back from Iraq have been using drugs," said Spc. William Swenson, who was deployed to Iraq from Fort Carson. "Right when we got back, there were people using cocaine in the barracks; there were people smoking marijuana at strip clubs; one guy started shooting up," he said.

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ABC News spoke to more than a dozen soldiers who described widespread abuse of illegal drugs at Fort Carson by service members back from the war.

[maxsolomon]

1. gee, what a shock.

this sort of thing just didn't happen during the vietnam war, so no one could have anticipated the problem. :sarcasm:

"when you ain't got nothin', you got nothin' to lose" - bob dylan.

[TomInTib]

2. It was just a matter of time...

And the troops in Afghanistan are in a druggie's paradise.

I wonder how much longer it will be before DoD attempts to tie illegal drug use to reduced disability status.

This reminds me of way back when I came home with a 647lb gorilla planted firmly between my shoulderblades. That damned thing road around on my back for eight more years, screaming and howling 24 hours a day.