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March 14, 2005
The Most Expensive Tea At Starbucks ... And They're Always Out Of It
Sailor Claims Tea To Blame For Failed Drug Test
KGTV TheSanDiegoChannel.com
After failing a drug test, a sailor with 11 years service is in the brig and faces a dishonorable discharge. He says he tested positive for cocaine because of a tea he drank, but the Navy is sticking to its strict policy.
Juan Santa Cruz is a husband, a father and a Navy electrician who is locked up in the brig.
Both he and his wife, Alessandra, say a certain type of tea he drank is to blame for a failed drug test.
Alessandra Santa Cruz said, "(The Navy is) basically destroying our lives because they're not trying to help us with anything after all we've sacrificed for the Navy."
The ordeal began last month when Juan Santa Cruz flew to the Great Lakes for training and was given a random drug test two days after he drank seven cups of mate de coca, or coca tea.
"It's very popular in Peru and Bolivia. They drink this tea all the time," said Alessandra Santa Cruz.
The family was shocked when the drug test results came back barely positive for cocaine.
"He was in shock at first. He called me and I did some reaserch and found the tea was responsible," Alessandra Santa Cruz said.
She sent the tea to the Navy for testing and the results came back negative. Then she took the tea to the San Diego Reference Lab, an independent site used by the FBI (news - web sites).
"In the original (test), we found cocaine, benzylmehtanine, majorityc cocain, and we found essentially 3.2 milligrams per tea bag," said Dr. Joseph Graas, lab director at the San Diego Reference Lab.
The San Diego Reference Lab tests 300 patients per day, but this one was so unsual they decided to do some independent research.
The lab director ordered two types of the tea directly from Peru and gave it to two employees.
According to 10News, the two employees tested positive essentially for a day and a half after drinking one cup of tea. The tea had exactly the same amount of cocaine as the bags supplied by Alessandra Santa Cruz, meaning she couldn't have tampered with it. Still, the Navy refused to do their own retesting.
"If they do the test, they're going to find that the tea is responsible for the cocaine in my husband's system," Alessandra Santa Cruz told 10News.
The sailor's been demoted, his pay cut and he faces a possible dishonorable discharge after 11 years of service.
In a statement, a Navy spokesperson defended the Navy's testing lab and practices. He said Juan Santa Cruz will have a separation hearing on April 11. At that time, if evidence is presented that he did not knowingly violate the Navy's strict drug policy, he will not be discharged.
Posted by Mark at March 14, 2005 11:26 PM
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