HAL, you are forgetting the bad press that the Navy received before that crash. Some article from the San Diego paper stated that 63% of Sailors used drugs.

They started experimenting with the urinalysis tests in late 78 or early 79 as best I can remember. I was in Norfolk at that point. The thing was, they weren't SUPPOSED to be used against a person yet. I forget exactly when they started busting people for dope, but it was sometime in 79, long before the A6 crash. And yes, pot was a lot bigger than the higher ups knew. It was 78/79 that "liquid lunches" became politically incorrect. From that point, the Navy started going downhill. Around 84/85, when the Navy did away with beards and switched back to the old style uniforms, there were some other things that happened that made the Navy a lot less fun. Stuff like the MWR fund couldn't be used to pay for beer at a squadron/ ship's picnic and the nice, fun things like that. Of course, an industrious 1st Class can ALWAYS figure a way around minor inconveniences !!!

Hal-Thor I am not sure when the testing started but it was forefront for me in 1973 I got out of the Navy because everytime we went on a operation I would have to check my Engineroom and had dogs down in berthing my crew would be so screwed up they could not even give a good Lite off I was on LST 1181 and they had the same problem on our sister ship.

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Originally posted by Thor:
HAL, you are forgetting the bad press that the Navy received before that crash. Some article from the San Diego paper stated that 63% of Sailors used drugs.

They started experimenting with the urinalysis tests in late 78 or early 79 as best I can remember. I was in Norfolk at that point. The thing was, they weren't SUPPOSED to be used against a person yet. I forget exactly when they started busting people for dope, but it was sometime in 79, long before the A6 crash. And yes, pot was a lot bigger than the higher ups knew. It was 78/79 that "liquid lunches" became politically incorrect. From that point, the Navy started going downhill. Around 84/85, when the Navy did away with beards and switched back to the old style uniforms, there were some other things that happened that made the Navy a lot less fun. Stuff like the MWR fund couldn't be used to pay for beer at a squadron/ ship's picnic and the nice, fun things like that. Of course, an industrious 1st Class can ALWAYS figure a way around minor inconveniences !!!

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Well Thor, the problem with the early dope testing kits- was that they were so inaccurate that poppy seed muffins or several over-the-counter medications would "pop" you positive for a controlled substance. Many, if not MOST, of the earliest drug convictions - due to urinalysis rtesults, were overturned and the people re-instated with advancements. I remember when I was at Great Lakes,Il for school - the base Chaplain got popped for opiates, he was ONE of the people who ate poopy-seed muffins daily. 3 Years later he was reinstated and advanced from Lt. to CDR! He then retired at CDR pay (with 3 years of back-pay). The last "realistic" drug use report I saw was about 9% used illegal drugs routinely with about 14% using them occasionally.

Sparky The Ship I was on was out of Little Creek we didn't notice it until we went to Turkey and after that we had problems all the way home.I don't think it was hard Drugs mainly Hash and Grass but on the way between Rota Spain & Cherry Point I had PO on the 20-24 and went down in # 3 Gen. Rm the watch was passed out and we had a fire in the Bildges wasn't big but Oil fires will put a knott on the back of your head

Yeah, I remember on my second ship ... if you went out on the fantail after sundown, you could get high on the second-hand smoke! The MAA weren't trying to stop it at all, as a matter of fact, they always had the cheapest dope because they would sell any that they confiscated! No one really cared if you were a doper, as long as you didn't let it affect your work ... if you DID let it affect your work, usually your LPO would take you to a fan room for some EMI!

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Originally posted by slpavman:

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Originally posted by Thor:
HAL, you are forgetting the bad press that the Navy received before that crash. Some article from the San Diego paper stated that 63% of Sailors used drugs.

They started experimenting with the urinalysis tests in late 78 or early 79 as best I can remember. I was in Norfolk at that point. The thing was, they weren't SUPPOSED to be used against a person yet. I forget exactly when they started busting people for dope, but it was sometime in 79, long before the A6 crash. And yes, pot was a lot bigger than the higher ups knew. It was 78/79 that "liquid lunches" became politically incorrect. From that point, the Navy started going downhill. Around 84/85, when the Navy did away with beards and switched back to the old style uniforms, there were some other things that happened that made the Navy a lot less fun. Stuff like the MWR fund couldn't be used to pay for beer at a squadron/ ship's picnic and the nice, fun things like that. Of course, an industrious 1st Class can ALWAYS figure a way around minor inconveniences !!!

---

Well Thor, the problem with the early dope testing kits- was that they were so inaccurate that poppy seed muffins or several over-the-counter medications would "pop" you positive for a controlled substance. Many, if not MOST, of the earliest drug convictions - due to urinalysis rtesults, were overturned and the people re-instated with advancements. I remember when I was at Great Lakes,Il for school - the base Chaplain got popped for opiates, he was ONE of the people who ate poopy-seed muffins daily. 3 Years later he was reinstated and advanced from Lt. to CDR! He then retired at CDR pay (with 3 years of back-pay). The last "realistic" drug use report I saw was about 9% used illegal drugs routinely with about 14% using them occasionally.

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SLP, I was more referring to the bad press that the Navy got from the San Diego Union Tribune. I found it beyond belief that 63% were actually using drugs. A more accurate percentile might have been around 25-30%. But, that bad press caused the urinalysis programs to intensify. And yes, I DO recall a lot of those drug convictions being overturned. Personally, I had little problems with the ones that partied on the weekends, were at work on time, did their jobs, etc. LOL, I recall a certain AE1 (made rate the same time I did) that went to mast for popping positive. He claimed because he was violent towards his wife at times, she put some dope in his spaghetti. He ate it and that's why he popped positive. He even had her come in as a witness. He got off the charges. One of the hardest assed, best AEs I ever knew, too.

Dope in the spaghetti?

Now that's rich. " Hon, could you pass the oregano? Sniff, sniff...is this oregano stale or something? "