Editor:
As I was watching the news story about a woman brutally murdered in Newton a few days ago, something inside me broke.
All my life I have tried to be empathetic to the plights of others, including drug addicts. I have relentlessly defended them as victims of circumstance and society, abuse and neglect, probably mental illness.
Watching the story of how, why and where Julie Paskall was murdered for a few dollars, I felt sad, and then I felt a consuming rage.
How did our society get to the point where drug addicts and derelicts have more rights than law-abiding citizens who contribute to the communities they live in?
They take what they want, and give nothing. They steal, maim, destroy and murder, yet they walk freely about because heaven forbid we force treatment on them.
They have the right to choose.
I say no they do not. Not anymore.
Our communities have put up with too much from this small section of society, and we have paid a high price.
It’s time to stitch up our bleeding hearts and make the tough decisions for these people that they are clearly unable to make for themselves.
Sadly, I have lost my empathy.
Beatrice Jakob, White Rock