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Royal Navy pleads with sailors to stop taking ketamine amid fears that the Class B drug is rife among junior naval personnel on ships and submarines
- Navy chiefs issued an official notice warning the drug will not be tolerated
- The hypnotic, also used as horse tranquilliser, is banned under military law
- A number of submariners failed compulsory drug tests on nuclear submarines
- The Ministry of Defence said the warning was issued as part of daily orders
Royal Navy chiefs have pleaded with sailors to stop taking ketamine – such is its popularity on ships and submarines.
Use of the Class B drug, which has been linked to seven deaths among civilian nightclubbers in the past month, is feared to be rife among junior naval personnel.
The hypnotic, which is also used as a horse tranquilliser, is banned under military law.
The Mail on Sunday has received photographs of a junior soldier dressed in full uniform snorting cocaine at a desk inside a military base. Soldiers are letting themselves be caught taking drugs in a bid to get a quick exit from the Army. The shocking pictures were also posted on social media
But chiefs thought it necessary to send an official notice to sailors warning that ketamine use ‘will not be tolerated’ and it is ‘very powerful and can cause serious harm’.
A naval source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘It makes you really scared as to the prevalence of drug taking among junior ratings if senior officers feel they need to remind them that taking ketamine is not OK.
‘But following a number of embarrassing incidents when submariners on nuclear submarines, including vessels which can carry nuclear weapons, failed compulsory drug tests, the new policy is to blitz personnel with reminders about what they surely should already know.’
Although ketamine is used by doctors and vets in controlled circumstances as a pain relief and to treat depression, it is extremely dangerous. A new craze to mix it with cocaine is feared to be behind the recent deaths of clubbers in Essex and London.
The Mail on Sunday has obtained a copy of the warning written by Commander Sean Brady.
It reads: ‘Drug misuse may be tolerated in some walks of life but the lives of those in the Naval Service depend on the reliability of each and every member of a team. Drug misuse is not only illegal, it is also incompatible with the duty of the Naval Service to preserve the safety of all personnel. You have been warned!’
Last night, the Ministry of Defence said the ketamine warning had been issued as part of daily orders at a Naval establishment.
Ketamine is a Class B drug in the UK meaning it is illegal to take, give away or sell. Anyone caught with the drug faces up to five years behind bars (file image)
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