US Defense Department adds synthetic marijuana to random drug test policy

The US military has zero tolerance to drug abuse and carries out regular random checks on all military personal. Washington has announced that the Defense Department has decided to add synthetic marijuana – also known as ‘spice’ – to the list of banned substances that it tests for.

Army Lt Col Tom Martin spoke to the American Forces Press Service and the Pentagon Channel about the decision, explaining why synthetic marijuana is now a banned substance in the military: “The message we’re getting out now is that when you participate in our random urinalysis program, synthetic marijuana products or synthetic marijuana will now be tested along with our other drugs.” He said: “It’s been known in the general population, both in the medical community and various media reports, that synthetic marijuana drug use is a serious health concern.”

According to Lt Col Martin, synthetic marijuana poses serious health risks and safety risks to the armed forces. Before they initiated the ban, a random test was carried out to determine how prevalent its use is. Around 2.5% of service members tested positive for the substance, which is more than double the number of people who tested positive for banned drugs in 2012.

All deployed troops are subjected to random drug tests. Any troops that test positive are punished under military law guidelines.

Lt Col Martin followed this by saying: “All service members participating in our urinalysis program will be tested for cannabinoids. And if they do test positive, they will be dealt with according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.”