TROOPS FACE NEW BATTLE

Substance Abuse Soaring Among Soldiers

MONTREAL -- The number of Canadian soldiers battling drug and alcohol
problems has more than doubled since Canada became involved in the
war on terrorism in 2001.

From 2001 to 2006, the number of soldiers assessed as requiring
treatment soared 125%, according to access to information documents
obtained by Sun Media.

The number of military personnel evaluated for addiction by a medical
officer or a drug counsellor went to 660 from 293 over that period.

The Department of National Defence says it can't make any link
between the Canadian mission and the staggering increase, but it
can't deny there is one either.

"These are raw numbers that have not yet been analyzed to determine
whether this increase is significant from a scientific point of
view," said Narinder Dhillon, national addictions practice leader at
the Defence Department.

Could the increase be linked to the stress, or distress, brought on
by dangerous missions past and present?

SOLDIERS SEEKING HELP

"It would be speculative to say that's the case," Dhillon said. "I am
not saying there is no link. But without proper analysis, we can't
really know."

He did say, however, that mental health-care reforms that began in
2000 might have played a role in the increase in numbers.

"It may have made people more aware and got more soldiers to ask for help."

Retired Col. Michel W. Drapeau called the lack of analysis regarding
the health of soldiers "disturbing."

"If I were in a family in which someone was a soldier, I would want
the Canadian Forces to study this," he said.

Drapeau said he was worried but not surprised by the statistics.

"We demand a lot from our soldiers. Soldiers and their families must
put up with constant stress because of combat or just waiting for the
mission to begin."

Dhillon said there is no evidence alcohol dependency is any worse
among soldiers than the general population.

COMPARABLE FIGURES

He cited a survey of 8,000 Canadian soldiers from 2002 in which 4.2%
of respondents said they had been dependent on alcohol in the
previous year. He said that percentage is lower than the general public (5.7%).

But 8.5% of the soldiers polled said they had been dependent on
alcohol at some point in their life.

"That's comparable to the level in the general public (8.5%)," Dhillon said.

The figures obtained by Sun Media concern soldiers at 19 bases:
Bagotville, Cold Lake, Goose Bay, Trenton, Gander, Greenwood,
Winnipeg, Comox, North Bay, Ottawa, Halifax, Gagetown, Valcartier,
Petawawa, Kingston, Borden, Edmonton, Wainwright and Esquimalt.