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Armed Forces Bill

I do not know a great deal about this subject, but there are at least three categories: medical, operational and ethical. Some of these performance-enhancing drugs will have the character, as the noble Viscount so clearly pointed out, of being a lesser evil. Better to take it than just fall over where you are. As I understand it, however, some of the things under consideration are designed to give an extra edge of one kind or another to frail humans. All three dimensions are involved in those: operational considerations are best left in the hands of the military; medical considerations are best left in the hands of informed people; and, ultimately, there are ethical questions about which drugs are used and which are not. I therefore welcome the Minister’s recognition that it would be good to sharpen the definitions in this part of the Bill.