TOKYO, March 1: Fourteen crew members of the US aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk are suspected of having used the synthetic drug MDMA, better known as Ecstasy, and marijuana in violation of military regulations, a press report said Tuesday.

Crew members tested positive for drug use last year, Kyodo News reported, quoting investigative sources. The sources said disciplinary action has been taken against seven of the 14 crew members of the 83,960-ton vessel, whose home port is Yokosuka at the mouth of Tokyo Bay.

Similar action will be taken against the remaining seven, Kyodo added. The 14 reportedly told US military authorities they obtained the drugs in Tokyo's all-night district of Roppongi or Yokohama, the port city next to Yokosuka, when they visited there on weekends. Ecstasy is popular with night clubbers. -AFP