Pubdate: Fri, 21 Mar 2008
Source: Chilliwack Times (CN BC)
Copyright: 2008 Chilliwack Times
Contact:  http://www.chilliwacktimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1357

MOTHER DESERVES ANSWERS

She thought she was doing the right thing--and she was--when local
mother Patricia Wigham told her son Kyle he had to turn himself in
after committing a crime while high on a combination of crack,
antidepressants and alcohol back in December.

It was a mother's love for her son that led her to that difficult
choice.

And as a testament to her son's own moral compass, he agreed to fess
up to his crime. When he was clean and sober, Kyle Wigham was a
mild-mannered kid who "wouldn't hurt a flea." But when high on drugs,
Kyle became a "walking time bomb."

By making her son own up to his mistake, Patricia thought she was
starting him on the path to mandatory rehab. Tragically, just the
opposite occurred.

The RCMP and the coroners service are now investigating Kyle's death
while he was an inmate at the maximum security Fraser Regional
Correctional Centre in Maple Ridge. Prison officials believe Kyle,
found dead last Friday, died of an overdose of street drugs.

Are we missing something?

We thought this was prison, a place where drugs are not allowed. After
all, there are armed guards and tall walls and razor wire and inmates
who are locked in cells.

How do drugs get into a prison?

They get smuggled in, of course, an embarrassing situation that needs
to be addressed for the safety of all involved.

Many people who commit crimes do so because they are addicted to
drugs. How can we expect them to get off drugs while in prison if the
drugs are easily accessible?

Someone needs to be held accountable before another mother's son dies
behind bars.
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MAP posted-by: Derek