[A-List] US military: superdrugged?

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Skin patches will create super-troops
IAN BRUCE
The Herald, 24 June 2003

AMERICAN troops will be able to fight round-the-clock without pausing to eat
or having to remove protective chemical warfare suits within the next decade
by using nicotine-style skin patches infused with nutrients and
stamina-enhancing plant extracts.

The Pentagon is spending £1m on a study aimed at producing natural dermal
boosters to increase soldiers' resistance to fatigue, hunger, and the kind
of joint pains which result from carrying heavy rucksacks and weapons for
long distances over broken terrain.

The project is concentrating on developing "active" patches which could
administer ultrasound, chemicals, deep heat or electrical impulses for
routine medical ailments as well as "nutraceutical" versions to stave off
hunger and provide infantry with high-protein quick-fixes to allow them to
stay in action longer.

The research, funded by the US defence department, is being carried out by
three South Carolina university medical schools under the direction of the
Pentagon's combat feeding programme, the organisation which produced the
current, self-heating MRE "meals ready to eat" ration packs used by all
American forces.

The joint team involved is already looking at caffeine from coffee beans to
increase alertness and compounds derived from turmeric plants to act as
anti-inflammatory agents.

A US army spokesman said yesterday: "The whole programme is built around the
employment of natural remedies and chemicals to enhance a soldier's
performance and relieve his aches and pains. We are aiming at active patch
solutions with no side-effects.

"You won't end up with a robo-warrior, but you should have a GI who can keep
going longer without having to break out ration packs, get out of and then
back into a chemical warfare oversuit or report to the medics for treatment
for relatively minor complaints. In a high-tempo battle, that gives your
side a definite edge.

"Lots of soldiers take nutrient and dietary supplements. But there's no
scientific evidence that what they're taking does them any good. This
research is looking for 100% natural enhancers with proven benefits not only
to the military, but also possibly for serious athletes or people in
high-stress jobs like firefighting."

The researchers are also exploring the possibility of developing
high-calorie, high-protein meals in chewy lozenge form.

No civilian drug company has yet explored the possibilities of
neutraceutical patches, although nicotine and anti-travel sickness versions
have been widely marketed.