R.J. Godlewski's The Independent Counterterrorist. I, Militia. June ...

DRUG DEMAND AMONG COMBATANTS
Drugs are used by individual fighters for four
main reasons—stimulation, reward, recruitment,
and relaxation—and comprise a type of “combatant
demand.” 15 Drugs can stimulate a person’s will to fight
and to ignore the possibilities of injury and death.
The notion of “liquid courage” is not just applicable
to the use of liquor, but to the use of other drugs in
situations of organized violence. Afghan soldiers who
worked with Soviet forces against the mujahedin were
provided hashish in their rations; “When you get high
on hashish, you become completely revolutionary and
attack the enemy—fear simply disappears.” 16 Drugs are
often used to fend off the boredom that accompanies
being a part of a group that, when not fighting, is
waiting to fight, hiding, or carrying on the mundane
duties required to keep a combatant group effective.
Drugs have been offered as rewards for conducting
hazardous or unpalatable operations against civilians.
John Mueller describes the phenomenon as “carnival,”
whereby warring groups take a territory and celebrate
by looting medical buildings for drugs and then
following up with orgies of rape, torture, and murder
of local residents. 17 Recruitment is also aided by the
use of drugs and the type of devastation that occurs
in internal conflicts. As drug profits alleviate key
problems of recruiting, training, and retaining fighters
for a combatant leader, the provision of drugs can sway
an individual’s decision to join the ranks of a warring
group. The stress of combat can also increase the desire
to seek mental escape in a fighter. Depressant drugs can
alleviate the stress felt by a combatant and help him to
avoid reflecting on his circumstances. At times, a rise in
the level of violence has altered the drug habits among
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