cannabisnews.com: Eighty Marines and Sailors Convicted of Drug Use Eighty Marines and Sailors Convicted of Drug Use Posted by CN Staff on July 02, 2002 at 15:55:29 PT By Robert Burns, AP Military Writer Source: Associated Press Authorities in North Carolina have seized $1.4 million worth of narcotics and have convicted more than 80 Marines and sailors of using or distributing designer drugs, officials said Tuesday. A two-year investigation, code-named Operation Xterminator, was conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service office at Camp Lejeune, N.C., outside of Jacksonville, along with state and local authorities. The investigation began in February 2000 after Camp Lejeune officials were alerted that a large number of service members were frequenting clubs in Wilmington, N.C., where designer drugs were prevalent, according to a statement released Tuesday by the Camp Lejeune public affairs office. The drugs involved were ecstasy, cocaine, LSD and methamphetamine, Marine Corps officials said. The operation included 105 separate investigations and ended June 19. Officials said more details would be released at a news conference Wednesday at Camp Lejeune. The investigation led to drug charges against 84 active-duty service members. A Marine Corps official said 99 percent of those charged were convicted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and two cases are still pending. Of the 84 charged, 61 were accused of distributing drugs and 23 were accused of using them. An additional 99 civilians were charged by civilian authorities. Officials provided no information on the sentences meted out to convicted military members. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the maximum punishment for wrongful distribution of drugs is confinement for 15 years, dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances. For wrongful use of drugs, the maximum punishment is confinement for five years, dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances. It was not clear Tuesday whether the Marine Corps was planning additional steps to deter use of illicit drugs. Last December, well after Operation Xterminator was under way, the Marine Corps established a random computerized system to standardize urinalysis throughout the service. Navy regulations require all Marines and sailors to take a urinalysis examination every year. Marine Corps officials said that while they are concerned by any illicit drug use, the 84 service members charged in the investigation represent only 0.001 percent of the 50,000 to 60,000 Marines and sailors who served in the Camp Lejeune area during the time of the investigation. Complete Title: Eighty Marines and Sailors Convicted of Drug Distribution, Use in North Carolina Source: Associated PressAuthor: Robert Burns, AP Military WriterPublished: Tuesday, July 2, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Associated Press Related Article:Isle Drug Program Best in Army http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11141.shtmlCannabisNews Justice Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #22 posted by Renerk on July 03, 2002 at 15:41:49 PT: I Wonder how much of that 1.4million was sold to undercover agents? Just a thought I think drug deals to an undercover agent are entrapment. [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by FoM on July 03, 2002 at 11:00:00 PT News from the BBC on Arrests http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_2090000/2090152.stm [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by BGreen on July 02, 2002 at 23:20:11 PT Come on, Freedom Fighter They won't have any problems getting good jobs. With the training and education they received during their "unfortunate incarcerations," I'm sure they'll have no problem filling all of the job openings we have due to our booming economy. Boy, I couldn't even type that with a straight face.The only thing that's booming are the bombs the FUCKING US MILITARY is using to kill innocent Afghanis! I saw a dead little Afghan girl on the news, killed yesterday by the USA! They keep saying they're fighting for me, but I'm telling you this, STOP IT!To the Military personnel: The Lord God Almighty said, "Thou shall not kill."You'll notice it ends with a PERIOD, NOT A DISCLAIMER! [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by freedom fighter on July 02, 2002 at 22:57:53 PT Whadda did you think? In 1980 100 of thousands crack heads head to prisons, by now they are coming out...Whatcha you gonna do now????ff [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by FoM on July 02, 2002 at 22:32:47 PT WND POLL: Freedom's Just Another Word? Tell us if Americans have more liberty now compared to 1776 STATE OF FREEDOM http://www.worldnetdaily.com/polls/ Current Results: Are Americans freer today than in 1776? No, federal government has replaced British empire as oppressor 50.00% (32) In some ways freer, in some ways not 15.63% (10) No, I'd take 1776 life over 2002 any day 10.94% (7) No, we're less free in most respects 9.38% (6) No, with tax-freedom day in mid-May, we're no more than slaves 9.38% (6) Yes, in all respects 3.13% (2) Other 1.56% (1) Yes, Americans have more and can do more 0.00% (0) Yes, the nation is not a colony 0.00% (0) Yes, government has empowered once-disenfranchised groups 0.00% (0) TOTAL VOTES: 64 [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by ricardo on July 02, 2002 at 22:17:25 PT WE WANT YOU! in this armygawd aye kant wate to keel me sum krauts [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by p4me on July 02, 2002 at 22:03:10 PT Jamaica and UK drug connections as ... covered by the Jamaica Gleaner. This is a two part series with part 1 being called "Britain, Jamaica and their drug problems (Part 1 of 2)" by Lloyd Williams, senior associate editor: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/britishdrugs/There is also a piece on drug mules called "Smugglers risking their lives, say UK cops." at http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/drugmules/story1.html.Jamaica is just plaqued with problems from inadequate water infrastructer to the killings that that in 2000 were expected to be about 40 per 100,000 or 1000 for the 2.5 million residents. 65% of the residents would leave the country if given the opportunity: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial/html/20000808t000000-0500_1183_obs_get_help_to_fight_crime.aspThere was a big drive that got registered voters up over 1.3 million and UN supervision is hoped to hold down the violence in the upcoming elections. There was a report several weeks ago about drug arrest being around 2000 for last year which is not really very many really considering a lot of cocaine passes through Jamaica and marijuana is illegal although half the adults use it. They do have some new sniffing equipment at the airport that is catching more of the drug mules. I look at the Gleaner and Observer papers about every day and it is suprizing how few articles and letters ever mention ganja. Tourism is down and discounts still have not brought in the normal level of tourist. Jamaica is in bad shape and no one sees any chance of fixing things anytime soon.1,2 [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by BGreen on July 02, 2002 at 22:02:16 PT Here's the link to those lyrics, TroutMask Google.com is a really cool search engine. Army's On Ecstasy [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by TroutMask on July 02, 2002 at 20:42:56 PT Army's on Ecstacy Army's on Ecstacy: A 'funny' song by Oysterhead (Trey Anastasio [Phish], Les Claypool [Primus] and Stewart Copeland [The Police]). I can't find the lyrics on the net and don't have the CD handy, but from memory the chorus goes:Army's on Ecstacy, or so they say I read all about it in the USA Today They stepped up urine testing to make it go away 'Cause it's hard to kill the enemy on 'ole MDMA-TM [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by Industrial Strength on July 02, 2002 at 20:41:14 PT wow I didn't think ahead to when they get out, like Lehder pointed out. I wonder how many of them will form a gang, a whole crew of ex-marine drug dealers...Like when the KGB was cut back 75%, most of those people just created the New Russian Mafia. That would be one hell of a tough gang, a bunch of ex marines. Probably pretty violent as well. [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by ekim on July 02, 2002 at 20:34:23 PT you can make 1000 to 10,000 a week said one of guys from jail on cable news tonight. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by Lehder on July 02, 2002 at 20:32:13 PT oh that's .001% that was printed in the article, half a marine like I said. And I think it was $140 million in dope, not $1.4 million. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by Lehder on July 02, 2002 at 20:22:47 PT Give us a snarl, boys, and curl your lips, because what makes the grass grow green makes a mean marine, and I smell a lot of bullshit in this report and I expect it'll get deeper with tomorrow's promised follow up.First of all, .0001% of 50,000 is only half of a marine, not 84 marines, but $1.4 million worth of pills is a lot of dope no matter who counts 'em out. And I can believe that it would take 61 of the 84 bust-outs to distribute it all.To whom have they been distributing all those pills these past 2 1/2 years while Operation Xterminator was marching doubletime? To hippies and other degenerates? Barflys? Children? Nuh-uh. They deal them to people they know and trust: sailors and marines. And it doesn't take 61 distributers to supply 23 sailors and marines - that's dealers enough to supply hundreds if not thousands of pill-poppers, assuming that all of them have been detected.Now why does it take two and a half years to find such a big load of dope and scores of distributors who hang out in night clubs instead of polishing their boots? Because this report was released only when, by the sheer magnitude of dope dealing and the huge numbers of people in the know and the great amount of talk that must have been going on all over for months, it could no longer be contained. So this report is a not so sly exercise in "damage control," a pitiful claim that a few bad apples, .0001% if you like, will be severely punished and then the "problem" will vanish. Sailor and marines. These are separate services last I heard with separate barracks and separate messes and assignments. But it sounds to me like they're a loosely organized multi-service dope dealing organization. A little young perhaps and with a penchant for taking risks, and they probably drink too much and get careless too. But they're learning, and I bet the more sophisticated among them are even familiar with the fundamentals of money laundering and banking in the Cayman Islands. We're never ever gonna hear the whole story.And when these guys finish their prison terms and are discharged with criminal records, bad papers and no money, what are they going to do then? They're gonna deal dope, and they're gonna be dealing with a vengeance; they're gonna be really pissed, boys and girls, and wanting to be making up for lost time. Nazis soldiers can brew speed, the Taliban smoke hashish, and marines are supposed to drink and curse. But for the sake of trying to keep a few volunteers from smoking a joint, Our Drug War has created a real mess, one that terrifies the hard-drinking military brass who have to try to believe this phony report themselves and who expect that I, Lehder, will buy this incredible bullshit too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on July 02, 2002 at 20:02:18 PT Robbie Thanks that was good. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Robbie on July 02, 2002 at 19:42:30 PT Hilarious! Check this out if you haven't heard it before:What If God Smoked Cannabis? http://www.walnet.org/rosebud/cannabisgod.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Zero_G on July 02, 2002 at 19:02:33 PT marines on lsd the mind reels, though i know it happens. gee, wave to charley - push the button, no more charley, hey where'd i go - i was charley...anyway, if they start a draft, they will probably organize forced treatment and straight to the cannon fodder squad for your ass. course you could always buy your way out though... [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by The GCW on July 02, 2002 at 18:48:39 PT & You know... IF IT IS NOT A LAW, -- NOW --, WE SHOULD MAKE IT A LAW, THAT NOBODY THAT SMOKES POT CAN GO INTO THE WAR BUSINESS.Groovy. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by The GCW on July 02, 2002 at 18:46:00 PT & This is: Just one location.If they were to have kicked out the American armies for using, these drugs, in NAM, would there have been an Army?If there wasn't an army, would there have been less deaths?If there is a world war 3, and the EVIL, disqualifies all the people that use these products, does that make US vulnerable?Does it in the long run help the young citizen, if the law is used right?(imagine the potential, of a million + young prospective draftees, volunteering to go on record simultaneously for using cannabis, TO GET OUT OF A WORLD WAR DRAFT, as a public protest)If people want to stay out of the war, and resist any draft, that comes, does using cannabis help? [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by mayan on July 02, 2002 at 17:17:58 PT Troutmask... You are right on the money. These same drugs(ecstasy, cocaine, LSD and methamphetamine)will now be used by school kids who wish to participate in extracurricular activities. Either the kids will drop out of the activities(or get kicked out!)or they will resort to these drugs which aren't as detectable as marijuana. unrelated - DC AIR NATIONAL GUARD WEBSITE ARCHIVE PAGE BLOCKED! SPREAD THE WORD! http://emperors-clothes.com/indict/update72.htmPOWERFUL EVIDENCE THAT AIR FORCE WAS MADE TO STAND DOWN ON 9-11: http://emperors-clothes.com/indict/update630.htmNew Revelations On 9-11 Political Deception: The Missing Link behind 9-11 - http://www.scoop.co.nz/archive/scoop/stories/63/3b/200207020002.a0feb2d9.htmlIt's Patriotic to Ask Why: 9/11 Unanswered Questions - http://www.scoop.co.nz/archive/scoop/stories/5f/4c/200206261519.ed7ea206.htmlU.S. COMPLICITY IN 9-11 ATTACKS WIDELY ACCEPTED AT G6B SUMMIT IN CANADA: http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/g6b_calgary.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Industrial Strength on July 02, 2002 at 17:06:36 PT blow burns through your system pretty fast as well. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by schmeff on July 02, 2002 at 17:02:38 PT They Were Looking for a Few Good Men Although the article doesn't say the drug use was detected by urinalysis, TroutMask's point is excellent. I'm not sure about cocaine, but to be caught with the other three drugs in their systems, the poor sods would have to have had their piss test within a day or two of use. Pure bad luck.The Few. The Proud.* The Marines.*but not too proud to surrender their pee. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by TroutMask on July 02, 2002 at 16:39:31 PT The War in Action "The drugs involved were ecstasy, cocaine, LSD and methamphetamine, Marine Corps officials said."Which one of these drugs is as safe or safer than marijuana? None of them. Which of these drugs are detectable in urine testing as long or longer than marijuana? None of them.The "gateway effect" is caused by the War on Drugs!-TM [ Post Comment ] Post Comment