You're no doubt ware that DND introduced blind testing policies to screen for those who could be taking drugs. As parliamentarians who study these matters, you also know, however, that soldiers are resourceful people. Our soldiers are extremely resourceful.
Something unexpected and unintentional happened. Under a policy that was put in place, testing was done to check whether anyone had used drugs on the weekend, for example. And soldiers in some places began replacing cannabis with harder drugs such as cocaine. Why, you ask? Because cocaine is eliminated from the body in 24 or 48 hours, whereas cannabis stays in the blood stream or urine for months.
From a strategic perspective, then, it's important to first consider the unintended consequences that our drug testing policies could have. When a soldier uses drugs or alcohol to cope with a mental illness, that addiction is what we call the presenting problem, but it's not the underlying problem. Unless we're talking about a criminal thug who slipped through the cracks at the recruitment centre, generally speaking, substance abuse is a way to cope with the illness.
What is imperative is to treat the illness, ensure it is recognized. Through a strategic lens, I believe we need to maintain our peer support programs to encourage people to seek help as early as possible. It's extremely important that we not let austerity measures in difficult years chip away at mental health programs for Canadian Forces members. The worst thing the government could do would be to allow the army to cut what is sometimes perceived as fat. We've finally got some good programs. It would be a sin if the army lost them.
To answer your question, I would say that, first of all, the current screening system could be having devastating consequences on some individuals because they are so resourceful. Second, I would say that we really need to continue focusing on mental health. That is my view.