Jerry,
The Armed Forces and Emergency Services recruit from society and so reflect what is going on generally. You would think members of HM Armed Forces / Emergency Services would be be on another level, but unfortunately not. I served in the Army and Police and whilst in the Police we lost two sergeants in quick succession to Class A drugs. Very sad as both seemed nice blokes. I also think the rise in soldiers taking steroids has increased in line with what's going on generally in society, where youngsters want to be body-beautiful these days, at any cost. When I was an Infanteer we were all slim and lean and ran for fun. Today's young Infanteer seems to be built more like a bodybuilder. A reflection of both society and the role performed by the modern Infantry soldier perhaps? A few years ago a good friend was an instructor at a training establishment and walked me through the lines to see how things are today. I remember being shocked to see large tubs of muscle builder in just about every Soldiers locker. In my day it was a bottle of pop and a well known brand of chocolate bar and I never failed a BFT or CFT. Anyway, all drug misuse is very sad and incredibly dangerous.