Use of the drug ecstasy is soaring among U.S. troops, and the military is looking for ways to improve testing, USA Today reported Monday.
Ecstasy is more difficult than most drugs to detect with traditional urine tests.
Unlike other drugs, which remain in the system much longer, ecstasy can pass through the human body within 48 hours, leaving no discernable trace, the paper reported. Statistics garnered from current drug testing by the Air Force, Army and Navy show that usage may be up over 12 times what it was just two years ago. The Air Force reported that last year nearly 500 out of 370,000 members either tested positive or admitted that they had used ecstasy. This compares to 50 members in 1998. The Army reported 36 cases in 1998 and 440 last year.