The navy has a protracted and storied historical past in the case of hashish, with an attention-grabbing back-and-forth relationship for many years. As society has grown, there have been important adjustments in how navy drug testing is dealt with.
With the stigma surrounding marijuana quickly evolving, and the understanding of the way it can profit our navy members changing into higher recognized, rules have lastly been shifting in the precise route. Nonetheless, the navy nonetheless has a protracted option to go concerning its use and notion of this plant.
The Army’s Historical past With Substances
Within the 12 months 1910, after the Mexican Revolution, Mexican immigrants introduced leisure marijuana to america in giant portions. A destructive stigma round hashish (pushed by propaganda and the federal government) was related to these newcomers, inflicting Congress to go the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937 to control marijuana higher.
Nonetheless, throughout World Conflict II, america Army turned to hemp to make navy gear like marine cordage, parachutes, and so on. In doing so, they subtly acknowledged that hashish does have deserves as a plant.
The Vietnam Period
A giant cultural shift occurred within the Sixties with the rise of the hippie motion, creating an much more lenient perspective in the direction of marijuana on the whole in america. It additionally grew to become extra accessible than it had ever been earlier than. Later within the Sixties, throughout the Vietnam Conflict period, there was important service member use of marijuana and more durable medication like heroin, which troopers typically turned to as a option to escape the horrors of conflict.
It was the heavy use of weed and different medication that finally led President Nixon to direct the navy drug urinalysis program in June of 1971.
Two years later, the Division of Protection Amnesty Program had over 16,000 navy members confess to their drug abuse drawback. It was estimated that 42% of america navy personnel in Vietnam throughout this era had used opioids a minimum of as soon as, and half of those personnel reported bodily dependency on opioids.
In 1974, random drug testing was established to proceed to establish drug customers for therapy functions. Nonetheless, this random drug testing didn’t deter drug use amongst navy service members. Unlawful drug use by navy service members was nonetheless between 27% and 38%, relying on the unit.
Late twentieth Century Adjustments
When a navy plane accident occurred in 1981, with medication as a essential contributing issue, the 15 deaths, 48 injured, and 11 broken planes totaled $150 million in damages. Marijuana metabolite, together with different substances, was discovered within the our bodies of six of the navy members killed within the accident. This seemingly led to additional destructive views of hashish by the navy, regardless of the involvement of different medication.
This triggered Deputy Secretary of Protection Carlucci to problem a memorandum authorizing punitive motion to be taken within the type of court-martials or discharge in opposition to navy members who examined optimistic on a drug check. This drug check seemed for marijuana together with cocaine, heroin, opiates, amphetamines, barbiturates, methaqualone, and PCP.
All through the Nineteen Eighties, the forensics behind drug testing continued to evolve and turn out to be extra outlined and procedural, which helped maintain navy members from being discharged unfairly. The kinds of medication and detectable ranges on this banned substance checklist additionally advanced all through the Nineteen Eighties.
By 1985, the drug testing cutoff for THC dropped from 75 ng/ML to twenty ng/mL of delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid. Nonetheless, the cannabinoids cutoff remained at 100 ng/mL. The share of navy members utilizing unlawful medication was solely 4.8% by 1988.
On the similar time, the Army Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) testing started for THC and cocaine. MEPS testing evaluates and determines the navy applicant’s bodily, psychological, and ethical readiness to hitch the U.S. navy.
Within the Nineteen Nineties, medication like ecstasy had been added to the banned substance checklist, however there have been no adjustments concerning how the navy examined for hashish throughout this decade.
In 2000, the Secretary of Protection made the primary optimistic step ahead concerning navy marijuana testing. That 12 months, they diminished the reapplication ready time from 180 days to 45 days. However since that minor adjustment in 2000, there have been no direct adjustments to the insurance policies concerning marijuana or its place as a banned substance within the navy — that is, till not too long ago.
Marijuana and the Army: Current Day
In June 2024, a brand new part of a serious protection invoice was handed, marking essentially the most important step ahead for hashish use throughout the navy because it was initially banned within the Nineteen Seventies.
This protection invoice now prevents navy branches from drug testing recruits for marijuana particularly as a situation of enlisting. Nonetheless, different pro- and anti-cannabis amendments had been thought of and blocked. Final 12 months, very related laws concerning enlistment testing for hashish was proposed and didn’t go.
The approval of this underlying invoice means marijuana screening throughout the navy is lastly advancing in a extra progressive route. This Nationwide Protection Authorization Act was handed with a 217-199 vote.
The official language within the code reads, “The Secretary of the military department concerned may not require an individual to submit to a test for cannabis as a condition of enlistment of such individual as a member, or the commission of such individual as an officer, of an Armed Force.”
A number of navy branches had already taken steps to loosen restrictions concerning hashish, equivalent to issuing first-time optimistic testing waivers for recruits. It additionally comes as no shock this invoice has lastly handed since THC is the most typical substance showing on optimistic drug assessments for lively navy members.
The language within the report on this invoice additionally mentioned pulling data on what number of service members had been discharged solely as a consequence of marijuana within the final ten years. Moreover, one other modification was adopted that will require a briefing for cannabis-related offenses beneath the Uniform Code of Army Justice as a result of rescheduling of hashish to Schedule III.
A briefing on sentencing outcomes for cannabis-related offenses can be submitted to the Home Committee on Armed Companies by January 31, 2025. It’s going to embody the variety of convictions within the final 4 fiscal years, in addition to every convicted personnel’s rank and time in navy service.
Remaining Takeaway
Whereas the U.S. navy has advanced each in good and dangerous methods concerning hashish, issues appear to be taking a big optimistic flip in current months.
With the doable rescheduling of hashish imminent and legalization spreading quickly all through the states, in addition to continued analysis supporting marijuana as a drug with medical advantages, the stigma and negativity that has pervaded hashish areas for many years is lastly dissipating.
This seemingly rescheduling might have a robust impact — not solely on how the navy views and assessments for hashish amongst its personnel, but in addition on the way it will proceed to evolve its insurance policies in favor of hashish use sooner or later.
