Instead, he sits in a prison cell behind a tall barbed-wire fence here at the Camp Lejeune U.S. Marine Corps base, just another statistic in a drug problem that some senior officers fear is spiralling out of control.

Rampant drug use is the latest black eye for a mighty American military still reeling from a series of "friendly fire" accidents in the Afghan war, including the notorious incident in which a reserve F-16 pilot bombed Canadian troops on night-training exercises near Kandahar, killing four soldiers and wounding eight.

New disclosures also reveal that more than 400 Afghan civilians were killed in 11 bombings ordered by U.S. commanders who were relying on bad information from local Afghan warlords.

Clearly, the Pentagon doesn't want to see the military's image further sullied at a time when the nation is at war.

There long have been unconfirmed rumours of amphetamine use by U.S. soldiers, including those on active duty. But now it's a fact: The drug of choice among young soldiers is an amphetamine known as Ecstasy.

Technically called methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), the drug essentially combines the energy of an amphetamine with the mind-altering qualities of LSD.

Davis, 24, has plenty of time to think about his dream that died. In the prime of his life, both physically and mentally, he faces 10 years in prison for using and dealing Ecstasy.

But in some ways, he is lucky.

His original sentence was 18 years, which would have meant being shipped to Leavenworth, a hard-time military prison in Kansas. But his term was cut to 10 years after he co-operated with his superior officers and agreed to appear in two videos to be shown as warnings to other Marines and sailors.

Davis is barred from giving media interviews. His comments in this article are as he delivered them on the videos, obtained from Star sources.

"I wouldn't wish this on anyone," he says, facing the video camera. "Not on anyone. You wake up every day looking out through bars. I can't leave. I can't go see my family.

"I just look out through these bars."

Davis was one of 84 military personnel — three of them sailors, the rest Marines — arrested in a two-year undercover investigation known as Operation Xterminator.

All but two of those charged were convicted in courts martial, with sentences ranging from three months to 19 years.

Ninety-nine civilians were also arrested and are to be tried in civilian courts.

The probe, conducted by agents of the Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS), hauled in an estimated $1.4 million (all figures U.S.) worth of amphetamines and other drugs.

The results of Operation Xterminator, said to be the biggest of its kind in U.S. military history, were announced on June 2. It's strict military policy not to announce the names of personnel charged or convicted.

Officials admit some of the drug use took place on the base, but none of the seized drugs, which included marijuana and LSD, were manufactured on base.

Maj. Steve Cox points out that 82 convictions represent a tiny fraction of the 60,000 military personnel who serve on the giant 300-square kilometre base that stretches along North Carolina's Atlantic coastline.

But with the ink barely dry on Operation Xterminator, another half-dozen of the camp's young Marines — the Leatherneck elite of America's fighting forces — have been charged with taking, possessing or distributing Ecstasy.

"We here at the NCIS are concerned about the increased use of Ecstasy and other club drugs by both sailors and Marines," says director David Brant, who has joined forces with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to tackle the military's drug problem.

Adds NCIS special agent Richard Warmack: "We have seen a tremendous growth in the number of Ecstasy-related investigations and operations that we've conducted."

A Defence Department official in Ottawa says the Canadian military has a "zero tolerance" policy on drug use, including Ecstasy, but hasn't launched any investigations of the magnitude of Operation Xterminator.

Senior officers worry that the drug's "hangover" effect — it can leave users exhausted the day after partying until the wee hours — could jeopardize a soldier's ability to function on the job.

There is also concern in military circles over the drug's powerful hallucinogenic effects.

Regular users often report "flashbacks," much like the hallucinations experienced by LSD users.

Frequent users also suffer increased muscle tension, tremors and blurred vision.

"Compromising command readiness cannot be tolerated and will not be tolerated," says the Marine Corps inspector-general, Brig. Gen. Timothy Ghormley.

"It comes down to a safety issue. Taking Ecstasy removes you from that responsibility and it's a responsibility a soldier cannot relinquish or abdicate. They come to work, they're depressed, they're not able to give 100 per cent to their duties and contemporaries have to haul the load for them.

"Imagine a Marine who is despondent after a long weekend of Ecstasy use and is not paying attention to what he is doing. If you have that Marine working next to you on the ground, he could injure you or worse yet, he could kill you."

Says Vice-Admiral Michael Haskins, the navy's inspector-general: "These drugs have a direct impact on members of the navy and Marines being able to perform their jobs at 100 per cent. It's important that people understand that the business we're in, either as a daily routine or on dangerous operational assignments, requires that everybody be at their peak condition."

An increasing number of military personnel have also been found using the club drug Ketamine, popularly known as "Special K." It's an animal tranquilizer with the physical effects of PCP and visual effects of LSD.

Back on the video monitor, Davis is remembering how his parents in Alabama were so proud of him when he graduated from Camp Lejeune boot camp.

"That was probably the proudest day of my father's life, watching me graduate," Davis says.

Near the top of his class, he won a prestigious post with the Presidential Support Program, which provides security at Camp David, the presidential retreat near Washington, D.C., in the mountains of Maryland.

"Loved it. Loved everything about it," Davis says of his experience at Camp David, where President George W. Bush often hosts visiting heads of state or spends weekends strategizing with his National Security Council advisers.

After running afoul of his strict commanders, Davis was transferred back to Washington and eventually back to Camp Lejeune, which is serviced by the tattoo parlours, "military cut" barber shops, dry cleaners, discount furniture outlets and liquor stores of drowsy little Jacksonville.

Davis began going out often to dance clubs in Wilmington, N.C., a vibrant city about 60 kilometres down the coast, to drown his sorrows. One night, at a Wilmington rave club called Dot Comm (whose name has since been changed to Club Neo'z), he took Ecstasy.

"I took it for the first time and took three (pills) and I was in shock at what it made me feel like," Davis recalls.

"The main thing I thought after that night was that I just spent $75 on these tiny little pills and I would do it again. I thought, `Where do you get this stuff?'"

Davis soon discovered eager buyers at Dot Comm for Ecstasy pills, people willing to pay $25 to $40 per pill. He started buying in bulk, getting the pills at a discount of as low as $10 each.

"In my mind then, you know, the money outweighed the risk and the damage I was doing," he says. "I mean, you've got 5,000 people in a club and 4,000 of them are on the drug."

Then, the hammer came down.

Davis was sitting in his pickup truck one day with a fellow Marine to whom he'd been selling Ecstasy for more than a year. He handed the man a bag of pills and the man handed him a wad of money. Just as Davis started counting it, he noticed a flurry of movement outside the truck.

Five military police officers were pointing .45-calibre pistols at him and yelling for him to get out with his hands in the air.

"I can't even explain that feeling," Davis says, shaking his head at the memory. They searched his apartment and found more than 900 Ecstasy pills and approximately $10,000 in cash.

Although he'd decided to plead guilty and was offered the services of a military lawyer, Davis hired an experienced civilian attorney — Richard McNeil, a retired officer who has been defending Camp Lejeune personnel on various charges, from spousal abuse to murder, for 21 years.

"There has always been a certain number of Marines who use drugs, which is something the people who run the Marines don't want to talk about," says McNeil, adding that Davis was a "good kid" with an impeccable background.

McNeil suspects that Davis would have been given 12 to 18 months by a state or federal court, in which an accused's prior record is considered in sentencing.

But the military does not consider prior conduct when it convenes a court martial and its sentencing structure is much tougher than a civilian court's.

"Just until about 18 months ago," McNeil says, "all we saw were cocaine or marijuana cases. But now the drug of choice is Ecstasy. It has a shorter lifespan in the human system and so it's more difficult to be drug-tested for."

Unlike marijuana or cocaine, which leave trace amounts in a person's system for days after use, Ecstasy metabolizes so quickly that it's nearly impossible to detect in drug tests. Various U.S. and Canadian laboratories are trying to develop an effective screening test for the drug.

"This isn't going away," McNeil warns. "It's amazing how Ecstasy use quickly escalates. There's virtually no one who uses it who doesn't end up selling it. When they buy in larger quantities, they get it cheaper, and it's very popular to sell in these rave and dance clubs where young Marines hang out and try to meet women.

"And frankly, my clients who are Marines have admitted to me that after they've been selling it a while, they begin to enjoy the money."

Davis says he knows his military career is over and his future uncertain. But what he regrets most is what he has done to his parents, who showed their support by attending his court martial.

"Watching your mother and dad cry is a really hard thing to do," he says. "Knowing that you caused that pain for them is one of the worst feelings you can ever imagine.

"I feel like I completely let my family down. I mean, that's more punishment than being locked up 10 years and everything."

Note: Two-year drug probe at U.S. Marine base ends in 82 convictions, but six new arrests show Ecstasy epidemic is far from over for e.

Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Author: William Walker, Washington Bureau
Published: July, 28, 2002
Copyright: 2002 The Toronto Star
Website: http://www.thestar.com/
Contact: lettertoed@thestar.com

Related Articles:

Military Sees Drug Use Rise Despite Tests
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13572.shtml

Eighty Marines and Sailors Convicted of Drug Use
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13287.shtml

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I just went in last week for a physical for a new position with the county government. The nurse checked my blood pressure - perfect, my heart rate - perfect, she listened to my lungs and said, "you have never smoked before, have you". I told her I quit smoking ciggaretes in 1985 after smoking for 15 years. I have been smoking cannabis for the same time except I did not quit in 1985, in fact I stop in early June, expecting a pre-employment drug test which was not given. Instead they did take a blood test to test my cloresterol and general well being. I hate to admit that as a closet smoker that I was prepared to pee but didn't have to and came home that evening and fired up the bowel. I started yesterday!!

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If I'm wrong, sombody please correct me.

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Dimebag.

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Lieutenant...it's always about money.

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But I read that he was drunk when he said it.

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ecstasy use is going to continue to rise due to this fact. Anyone promoting urine testing is inadvertantly providing marketing for ecstasy and booze. But, I guess a stoned military would not be willing to shoot people on command without questioning the reasons. Then again, ectasy users are not exactly aggressive are they? Save the military! Send free booze for all the soldiers! We need to keep their blood boiling.

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The answer is, not at all. Our tax money supports his incarceration. He will likely be on the government payroll the rest of his life because a dishonorable discharge makes prospective employment extremely difficult. So, his life is ruined, and we have another flagrant example of the punishment being many orders of magnitude greater than the crime. Just a touch of enlightenment would be refreshing, but is seemingly impossible in our nation at present.

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