Pubdate: Mon, 10 Oct 2005
Source: Asahi Shimbun (Japan)
Copyright: 2005 Asahi Shimbun
Contact:  http://www.asahi.com/english/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3626
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)

SMOKE DETECTORS

Among those surprised by the drug-abuse scandal at the Maritime 
Self-Defense Force, the MSDF itself may be the most.

"The police were way ahead of us," said a senior MSDF official. "We 
are having a hard time just keeping up with the facts of what happened."

The arrests of six MSDF personnel since July 17 on violation of the 
Cannabis Control Law has pointed up the force's lack of compulsory 
drug-testing, a standard measure in the U.S. Navy since 1982.

Yet, although many insist the ever-widening scandal shows that random 
drug-testing is long overdue, many MSDF officials remain reluctant to 
take the step.

"Privacy must be respected, even among MSDF members," said an officer 
who once commanded a destroyer.

But those familiar with the SDF say the truth goes deeper.

"The reason the SDF respects the privacy of its personnel is because 
it has a hard time recruiting them," said Kensuke Ebata, a 
commentator on military issues.

The fact is, with many ships unable to fill crew quotas, some are 
arguing that a more hard-line, less-private MSDF with strict 
drug-testing regulations would not be able to find enough personnel 
to steer its vessels, period.

Of the arrests made so far, all but one were by prefectural police. 
Only the last, on Sept. 28, was an MSDF operation, in this case by 
its shore police unit.

The arrests have ranged from one MSDF member suspected of possessing 
Ecstasy in August (who was later released without indictment), to 
submarine crew members based at Yokosuka suspected of possession or 
trafficking of marijuana in violation of the Cannabis Control Law.

Yet the force has never conducted random drug tests.

There is some limited drug testing within the ground, maritime and 
air divisions of the SDF. Urine tests began in July 2002, following 
arrests in 2001 for stimulant use of an MSDF member stationed in 
Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and a communications member of the 
Yokosuka force.

But the limited drug tests, conducted on new recruits and new 
students at the National Defense Academy, are by consent.

Of the 800 mostly submarine crew personnel the Maritime Staff Office 
has tested since this summer's arrests, all have been with the 
individuals' consent.

The office has set up a special investigation team since the arrests. 
But Defense Agency officials say that for mandatory, random tests on 
SDF members already serving, they would need new legal measures.

And they say the privacy issue must be addressed.

"It's difficult to investigate (MSDF members') personal lives," said 
the former destroyer commander.

He said consent is required to search individual lockers aboard 
ships, and remains adverse to the idea of a compulsory search of 
private possessions for illegal substances.

But Ebata, who supports compulsory testing, points to the staffing problem.

"As things stand, some MSDF ships cannot fill their crew quotas 
because few people want to become ship crew, which involves being 
away from home a lot," he said. "If urine tests become compulsory, 
members would likely back away even more from ship duty."

Yet drug testing is not a novel concept among military forces. The 
U.S. Navy introduced urine tests for all new recruits over 20 years 
ago, in 1982.

All serving personnel, from sailors to officers, are subjected to 
surprise tests. Computers select crew at random, who are immediately 
escorted to the test area and are required to produce urine samples 
in the presence of military police or other officers.

Not that it stops U.S. Navy personnel from trying to pull the wool 
over their superiors' eyes from time to time.

Last year, 19 crew members on the cruiser USS Vincennes stationed at 
Yokosuka Naval Base were caught for drug use after trying to pass off 
other crew members' urine samples as their own, or for using a 
neutralizing agent they bought via the Internet.

The Navy's Seventh Fleet in Yokosuka now punishes its personnel just 
for possessing substances that manipulate drug tests.

Those caught in drug cases face a dishonorable or bad-conduct 
discharge. It is entered in their veteran records and affects their 
future search for employment. They are ineligible for scholarships, 
pensions and other veteran benefits.

In 1982, 7.21 percent of randomly selected Navy personnel tested 
positive for drugs. But due in part to the new testing regulations 
the percentage dropped below the 1-percent mark in the early 1990s. 
And between October 2004 and April 2005, the Navy says, fewer than 
0.3 percent of its personnel have tested positive.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman