California IN BRIEF : SAN JOSE : Drug Use Reported in Coast Guard

For every three suspected smugglers it arrested in 1987 and 1988, the U.S. Coast Guard’s anti-drug smuggling units had more than one member disciplined for drug violations, the San Jose Mercury News reported. The Coast Guard, which arrested or helped other law enforcement agencies arrest 1,099 people for drug offenses in those two years, punished 428 of its own people during that period for drug use, the newspaper reported. Citing a Coast Guard study, the newspaper said disciplinary documents contained almost no information about the violations. Almost half of the cases involved cocaine; slightly fewer, marijuana, and a handful involved morphine, PCP and methamphetamine.