Military ‘sanity board’ will examine drug use in Afghan shooting case

The Army is about to begin a detailed examination
of Joint Base Lewis-McChord Sergeant Robert Bales that
will help the military decide if he should go to trial for
killing Afghan civilians.

Key aspects of the inquiry, known as a “sanity
board,” will include any prescription drug use, which is
widespread in the military. It should be no surprise that
with multiple deployments in war zones, active military
personnel are turning to prescription drugs to cope.

Retired Army Colonel Jeff McCausland says pilots
commonly take amphetamines, such as Dexedrine, to stay
alert during long flights.

“In similar fashion, if a soldier is out on a
long-term patrol, which may go many, many hours, you want
him or her to remain alert throughout that,” said
McCausland.

In part because of multiple deployments,
McCausland says drugs are commonly used to keep soldiers
going.

“Probably over 100,000 members of the U.S.
military take some kind of psychotropic drug, some of that
is anti-depressant, some of that is for sleep,” said
McCausland. He says the military would argue that drug use
is no more common in the military than it is in the
civilian population, which he points out “sadly takes a
whole lot of medication.”

The difference is, these men and woman are issued
weapons.

The question becomes: How is this monitored? And,
McCausland says he’s “sure there’ll be a careful
examination of Staff Sergeant Robert Bales and the alleged
incidents he was involved in and what kinds of medications
he was taking.”

So far, there is no allegation or indication that
Fort Lewis Sgt. Robert Bales was affected by prescription
drugs, but his defense team has requested a list of any
drugs he was issued ahead of the sanity board hearing.

When military personnel are accused of wrongdoing,
defense lawyers sometimes raise the issue of drug use, but
it’s not often successful. However, recently, military
psychiatrists concluded that an Air Force pilot suffered
from delerium, brought on by lack of sleep and the use of
Dexedrine, otherwise known as “go pills.” He was charged
with assault, drunk driving, and auto theft and was found
not guilty by reason of lack of mental responsibility.