With suicide rapidly becoming the leading cause of death among those assigned to carry out the Empire’s global mission of redemptive bloodshed, officially sanctioned drug use is reaching unprecedented levels. Notes the Los Angeles Times: "After two long-running wars with escalating levels of combat stress, more than 110,000 active-duty Army troops last year were taking prescribed antidepressants, narcotics, sedatives, antipsychotics and anti-anxiety drugs, according to figures recently disclosed … by the U.S. Army surgeon general. Nearly 8% of the active-duty Army is now on sedatives and more than 6% is on antidepressants — an eightfold increase since 2005."