To the Editor,
Re: B.C. man acquitted of sexual assault after mushroom-induced psychosis, AV News online, June 17, 2025
In response to the article by Anna Burns reporting that a "B.C. man (was) acquitted of sexual assault after mushroom-induced psychosis," I am beyond appalled.
How is it that a man who took the mushrooms and the weed willingly is not accountable for the results of his actions? The poor woman he assaulted will not have a scar as small as the one Judge Hinkson says that L. B. Barrett will have.
How is it that if you kill someone while driving drunk it is a jail-able offence but getting high is OK? Who comes up with terms like "non-mental disorder automatism?"
He obviously wasn't too high that he could still break in and perform such violence. One wonders, shouldn't that have impaired him?
Unbelievable. Honestly, what a horrible horrible precedent was just set. The victim deserves better than that.
Ruth John,
Port Alberni
