The drugs situation was brought to the fore recently when two F-16 fighter pilots, Harry Schmidt and William Umbach, who were serving in Afghanistan, mistakenly bombed a group of Canadian Soldiers in a "Friendly Fire" incident.

They were put on trial for "reckless behaviour and violating the rules of engagement". It came out during the trial that both men had been flying under the influence of Amphetamine "Go-pills" administered to them by the flight surgeon. Their attorneys stated that it had not been Schmidt and Umbach who killed the Canadian Soldiers, but the Air Forces dextro-amphetamine.

Now many of us would think that putting someone in the driving seat of one of the most lethal killing machines in the world, and then pumping them full of Amphetamine, (which carries the known side-effects of confusion, anxiety, aggression, paranoia, hallucinations and psychotic behaviour), was not the best idea in the world. In fact, most of us would think that it is an accident waiting to happen.

And yet the military continue to do it, flight after flight, conflict after conflict, pilots are flying their missions under the influence of Amphetamines. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the whole affair is that more "accidents" don't occur. Of course, even if they do, the military, being the military, is unlikely to tell anyone it doesn't have to about them.