By Aaron Miller-
A Canadian soldier who fed cannabis cupcakes to her fellow troops during a live firearms exercise, faces a sentence of up to five years in prison.
Bombardier Chelsea Cogswell was found guilty of administering “a noxious thing” to eight soldiers, as well as behaving in a disgraceful manner, after disorientating her fellow troops with cannabis that got many of them buzzing stupid.
This is the first time a Canadian soldier has been found guilty of administering cannabis to colleagues without their consent.
Over three days of testimony, eight soldiers testified about eating the cupcakes on July 21, 2018. They said they soon began experiencing symptoms of fatigue, drunkenness, disorientation, confusion and paranoia — all while on a live-fire training exercise.
They said they weren’t able to focus on their tasks, and many of them worried about the safety of handling guns and ammunition.
The soldiers had all been involved in a live-fire training exercise and Vallerand went to his superior to voice his concerns and halt the exercise.
Commander Sandra Sukstorf, the judge presiding over the court-martial, described Cogswell’s behaviour as “shockingly unacceptable” adding her actions could have resulted in fellow soldiers being killed.
Cogswell told military police via a video testimony that she made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and a jelly bean on top for her fellow soldiers, but denied adding any cannabis.
Cogswell, who has served in the Canadian military since 2011, was working in the canteen during the multi-week “Exercise Common Gunner” at Gagetown in July 2018, part of the Royal Canadian Artillery School’s officer training.
The court heard five soldiers at the live-fire exercise tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). A wrapper from one of the cupcakes also indicated the presence of THC.
Effects On Soldiers
Under the influence of the cakes, one of the soldiers incorrectly set timing fuses on explosives, and another improperly loaded a weapon and a gunner walked in front of a howitzer. A soldier almost crashed his military truck and others say they were overcome by laughter.
Soldiers also described feeling drunk and confused while handling weapons after eating the cakes in 2018.
The crime occurred three months before cannabis was legalized across Canada.
Military Judge Cmdr Sandra Sukstorf said prosecutors had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the affected soldiers had eaten cannabis from the cupcakes, which the bombardier knowingly gave them.
The bizarre case stems from an incident at the Combat Training Centre at CFB Gagetown in the province of New Brunswick.
Prosecutors in her military trial argued that Cogswell added more peril to an already dangerous situation when she handed out the chocolate cupcakes while in charge of the canteen during a field exercise.
Soldiers testified to feeling “spaced out”, “incoherent”, “paranoid”, and “sluggish” after eating the homemade treats.
Medical officials were called to investigate after the soldiers reported their symptoms. Despite the hot summer day, heat exhaustion was ruled out.
Five later tested positive for cannabis, as did one cupcake wrapper recovered from the scene. Lawyers for Cogswell argued that military detectives lost several other cupcake wrappers, demonstrating investigative ability so “shockingly negligent as to constitute an abuse of process”.
Military prosecutors deny that any other wrappers were ever in their possession.
In a video interrogation with Cogswell played for the court, she described being called a misogynist word by other soldiers and said cannabis use was prevalent among troops.
Last spring, a military official confirmed that this was the first time that a Canadian soldier has faced court martial for “allegedly administering cannabis to colleagues without their consent”.
Cogswell joined the Canadian Army in 2011, and remains a service member.
Earlier this year, her mother told CBC News that she has been barraged with online hate messages and had her car vandalised once since the charges were filed.
“I’ve been on this bench long enough to see that there are a lot of good people that sometimes exercise very poor judgment,” the judge told Cogswell in court