Military given hallucinogenic drugs!

From MSNBC :

Hallucinations linked to drug given to troops
Malaria medication can cause paranoia, other mental side effects

SAN DIEGO - As a volunteer firefighter, Georg-Andreas Pogany had seen disfigured bodies pulled from wrecked cars. But something very different happened when the Army interrogator saw the mangled remains of an Iraqi soldier.
He became panicked, disoriented and that night reached for both his loaded pistol and rifle as he thought he saw the enemy bursting into his room. Pogany asked his superiors for help; the Army packed him home to face charges of cowardice — the first such case since Vietnam.
None of it made sense to Pogany until he learned more about the white pills the Army gave him each week to prevent malaria.
Pills made him snap, says soldierThe drug’s manufacturer warned of rare but severe side effects including paranoia and hallucinations. It became his defense: The pills made him snap. The Army dropped all charges, a spokesman later saying that Pogany “may have a medical problem that requires care and treatment.”
Pogany is among the current or former troops sent to Iraq who claim that Lariam, the commercial name for the anti-malarial drug mefloquine, provoked disturbing and dangerous behavior. The families of some troops blame the drug for the suicides of their loved ones. Though the evidence is largely anecdotal, their stories have raised alarm in Congress, and the Pentagon has stopped giving out a pill it probably never needed to give to tens of thousands of troops in Iraq in the first place.
“What are we doing giving drugs that cause hallucinations, confusion, psychotic behavior to people that carry weapons and hold secret clearances?” asked Pogany, 33, who is now seeking a medical discharge. “It doesn’t pass the common-sense test.”
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“There’s a strong recommendation not to use Lariam for those who depend on
fine motor skills,” he said. “Do you call firing an M-16 a fine motor skill? I
do.”
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Howell blames Lariam for what happened a few weeks after her husband, a
veteran Green Beret, returned home. In March 2004, Chief Warrant Officer William
Howell went from “normal to murderous” in a half-hour, his wife said, and ended his life in his front yard with a bullet to the head.

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As if the things they are going through are not traumatic enough, the military is being given drugs known to cause hallucinations! Sounds like something that would be illegal in civilian life!