Soldier dished out cannabis cupcakes during "live firearms" exercise.
Bombardier Chelsea Cogswell has been found guilty of behaving disgracefully and administering "a noxious thing"unknowingly to 8 fellow soldiers.
The Soldiers in question had described feeling "drunk and confused" whilst handling their weapons after consuming the cakes back in 2018, 3 months before cannabis was legalised across Canada.
Military Judge Cmdr Sandra Sukstorf announced on Wednesday that prosecutors had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the affected soldiers had indeed unknowingly consumed cannabis edibles, given to them knowingly by the bombardier.,
The bizarre case occurred at a Combat Training Centre in the New Brunswick province.
Prosecutors at the military trial argued that Cogswell made an already dangerous situation even more perilous when she decided to dish out the cannabis-laced chocolate treats whilst in charge of the canteen during the live firearms field exercise.
The soldiers duped into eating the cupcakes reported that they felt "incoherent", "spaced out", "sluggish", and "paranoid" after unwittingly eating the infused cakes.
Although first thought to be little more than heat exhaustion, medical officers called to the scene soon ruled this out on seeing the soldiers symptoms first hand.
Five soldiers later tested positive for cannabis, as did some Cupcake wrappers found at the scene. Cogswell argued that military detectives had misplaced several other wrappers, demonstrating their investigative negligence in her defence. Military prosecutors, however, deny these claims.
Last Spring, an official military spokesperson confirmed that this was the first case where a Canadian soldier has faced a court-martial for allegedly "administering cannabis to colleagues without their consent".
A video interview with Cogswell that was played for the court showed her describing how cannabis use was common amongst troops. The bombardier has been in the Canadian Army since 2011 and remains a service member. She is now awaiting sentencing, which could see her serving as much as five years in prison.
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Liz Filmer
