Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military From: cash@uunet.UU.NET (Peter Cash) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Drugs in War Message-ID: <12429@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 19 Dec 89 04:22:47 GMT References: <12395@cbnews.ATT.COM> Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Organization: Convex Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx. Lines: 39 Approved: military@att.att.com From: cash@uunet.UU.NET (Peter Cash) In article <12395@cbnews.ATT.COM> carl@garfield.cs.mun.ca (Carl Noseworthy) writes: > > >From: Carl Noseworthy > >Post to sci.military (Is this the right address?) > >Have governments ever condoned the use of drugs by their soldiers? Have >any governments even encouraged it? I could see some sort of physical >advantage if a whole army was on steroids. What other types of drugs >might be used to enhance performance in soldiers? For example, were Japanese >Kamikaze pilots given some sort of drug before their final flights? It's common to ascribe the motivation of enemy soldiers to drugs. (Theirs are drugged fanatics, ours are determined and brave boys.) To look for government-sanctioned military use of drugs, you don't have to look too far. I recall that about a year ago, there was a big stink when it was revealed that the USAF was routinely issuing speed to fighter pilots on long flights. As far as military effectiveness goes, the use of certain drugs such as steroids (make you strong and hostile) and speed (make you awake and hostile) would obviously be advantageous. Tranquilizers would be useful to bring the soldiers down from the other drugs, and to overcome the stress/fatigue effects of battle. The disadvantages would include the social consequences of such drug use (i.e. their continued use by veterans after the war), and--of course--the direct medical consequences of their use on the physiology of the soldiers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | Die Welt ist alles, was Zerfall ist. | Peter Cash | (apologies to Ludwig Wittgenstein) | cash@convex ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~