SOLDIER'S DAD SAYS DRUG-ADDICTED SON ASKED ARMY FOR
HELP

A corporal from the Truro area is one of five soldiers charged with
drug trafficking at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick.

Cpl. Brian Stevens called his parents in Salmon River, Colchester
County, early Thursday morning from the Fredericton airport to tell
them he was about to fly to Edmonton with an escort.

The 31-year-old soldier will go through a month of drug rehabilitation
before learning in January if military prosecutors will send his case
to court martial.

"They're going to try to fix him up, but they waited too late," said
his father, Donald Stevens.

Cpl. Stevens, who faces four charges of trafficking cocaine and
ecstasy, tried for months to get the army to put him into a drug rehab
program, said his dad.

"He was calling for help and they wouldn't listen," Mr. Stevens said.
"He wanted help, but they wouldn't help him."

Cpl. Stevens visited his parents last weekend but didn't seem to know
the trafficking charges were coming, said his dad.

"It was a surprise to every-body, the whole family."

Cpl. Stevens, who plays drums in the Royal Canadian Artillery band,
"got into trouble with drugs" this past summer at the Royal Nova
Scotia International Tattoo in Halifax, said his father.

"It's been six months and they haven't done anything with
him."

A military spokesman could not confirm Thursday that Cpl. Stevens
asked his superiors for help to kick his drug habit.

The soldier's father blames his son's behaviour on a six-month tour of
duty in Afghanistan that he completed in March.

Cpl. Stevens drove a light armoured vehicle in the war-torn
country.

"He saw too many dead children and women over there," said his father,
breaking down in tears.

"It was just too much for him."

Cpl. Stevens went missing last month, prompting his parents to issue a
public appeal for help tracking him down.

The soldier had been taking medication for depression and his father
admits he was worried at the time his son might try to take his own
life. Police eventually located him in Halifax.

Cpl. Stevens was also absent without leave for a month this summer. He
was eventually picked up by Halifax police and returned to Gagetown,
where he faced disciplinary action, according to his family.

Cpl. Stevens has been in the military for about a decade.

His father suspects the trafficking charges will end his army
career.

"They're not going to put up with that," he said.

Cpl. Stevens is single and has no children. He has three older
siblings.

The soldier's family wants him to clean up his act.

"We definitely don't want him back until he's cured," Mr. Stevens
said.

Four other soldiers were charged Wednesday after military police
conducted a seven-month undercover drug operation at Gagetown. The
military would not give their hometowns.

Cpl. William Venator faces three charges of trafficking marijuana.Cpl.
Harold Robinson is charged with one count of trafficking ecstasy. Pte.
Allan Hogan is charged with three counts of trafficking ecstasy and
pot.

Four of the soldiers charged, including Cpl. Stevens, belong to the
2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment.

The fifth, Cpl. Gary Kettle, who is charged with one count of
trafficking marijuana, is part of the 4th Air Defence Regiment.

Two of the five soldiers charged were slated to head to Afghanistan in
February.

"As a result of this, they will not deploy with the task force," said
Lt.-Cmdr. Pierre Babinsky, a spokesman for the military's justice system.

Military prosecutors will go over the evidence and announce in January
whether the soldiers will face courts martial.

Penalties on conviction could include reprimands, fines, discharge
from the army, reduction in rank and jail time.

About five per cent of 1,500 soldiers slated to head to Afghanistan in
February failed drug tests at Gagetown this fall. That means 75
soldiers were taken off the tour for using drugs.

But those mandatory "safety-sensitive" tests did not spark the
undercover police investigation, which started in April, Lt.-Cmdr.
Babinsky said.