The number of Israeli soldiers arrested on suspicion of using drugs increased again this year, according to statistics from the Israeli army, cited by Haaretz Sunday.
A senior officer from the Israeli army was reported by the daily as saying that the figures show a 7 percent increase in the number of arrests made between 1998 and 1999, a similar trend was evident during the first half of this year.
The officer said that part of the increase is directly attributable to intensified efforts on the part of the Military Police to identify drug users in the army. However, there has also been a real increase in the numbers of users, he added.
The paper added that more than 20 percent of the suspects arrested were soldiers serving in combat units. The Military Police is concentrating its efforts in these units under the assumption that the most significant damage could occur in them - Albawaba.com
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