Missing Women Did Not Choose Path

I am 16 years old.  My sister, Helen Mae Hallmark, went missing from the Downtown Eastside about three years ago.  She was a junkie.

Helen and many other missing women did not choose the path of drugs.

I am not saying that the government is responsible for the deaths of drug addicts but I feel that the government hasn't done a whole lot to get them off the streets.

Yes, these overdose deaths could have been prevented.  However, they weren't because of people who classify addicts as street scum.

As for junkies taking responsibility for their actions, they have! They have cried out for help countless times and no one listens.

I only want people to try and look into the depths of a situation instead of skimming the surface.  These people have been condemned to the streets because of family poverty and unimaginably tragic stories.

Kirsten McClelland,
Maple Ridge