Many young Australians are either too drug-addled or too fat to join the army, according to a Defence Force report on recruitment that was released on Monday.
Drug abuse and obesity levels are so high that the numbers of new recruits are likely to go down rather than up in the next five years, the report warned.
Australia has 52 000 people in its Defence Force. A recruitment campaign is under way to raise numbers to 55 000 by 2005.
”The high incidence of non-medical drug use among young people (recent studies suggesting up to 50% of 15-year-olds smoke marijuana at least once a month) severely limits the pool of recruitable candidates,” said the report, leaked to The Australian.
The obesity rate is ”expected to worsen over time as Australian society reflects the phenomenon found in developed nations”, further hindering attempts to attract suitable recruits.
Australian Defence Association head Neil James praised the military for ”publicly confronting drug abuse and obesity, which are cruelling its recruiting efforts”. — Sapa-DPA