WAR ON DRUGS GAVE WALKER JUSTIFICATION FOR TAKING LIFE

With all the sympathy that Kim Walker has received for his actions,
the public has heard little about the young man who has been
demonized because of his drug use.

It's easy to forget that James Hayward was as much a victim of drug
addiction as Jadah Walker. Hayward is not alive to refute or confirm
the allegation that he injected Jadah with drugs against her will.

With the right interventions it is possible that he may have overcome
his drug addiction. But because of the misguided actions of Kim
Walker, nobody will ever know.

Condoning vigilante justice with a light sentence would have sent the
wrong message to the next person with a desire to protect his child.

This case illustrates everything that is wrong with the war on drugs.
It was the war on drugs that gave Walker a moral licence to kill and
the self-righteous attitude that it was the right thing to do.

Make drugs available at the pharmacy and drug dealers will disappear.
In the same way that ending Prohibition put an end to so many stills,
an end to the war on drugs will put an end to drug dealing.

It's obvious that to continue to rely on law enforcement to deal with
the drug problem is failing miserably.

The RCMP has admitted that there was nothing that it could have done
in this case. Arresting Hayward would not have stopped Jadah from
getting morphine. I doubt that he was the only person selling that
drug in Yorkton.

We need to do more to help young people with addictions in order to
make sure that a tragedy like this never happens again.

Tanya Derbowka

Saskatoon