What was he thinking?

The sad suicide of RCMP Cpl. Ron Francis certainly brought attention to PTSD, but the big issue is pretty clear:  he was deliberately smoking marijuana in uniform, in public, while on duty.  He gave the force no choice but to suspend him from duty, which was actually quite considerate because I am sure his was a firing offence.  He broke the law and no police force can continue to employ a member who blatantly does that.  Just can't.

What would any employer do if an employee sat at his or her desk and drank or smoked weed all day?  What if everyone decided to drink and smoke on the job?  You'd go into Walmart and everyone would be stoned.  You'd go to the gas station and the attendant would be stoned.  The pilot on your next flight would be stoned.  The bank teller would be stoned.  The surgeon performing your heart transplant would be stoned.  Remember 'Flight', the movie in which Denzel Washington plays an alcoholic airline pilot?  I could go on, but you get the idea.  Can't be tolerated.  Period, the end.   

Francis was being treated for his disorder and was on medical leave, which was a nice thing for the force to do.  They didn't fire him.  Apparently, he became traumatized as a result of the carnage and violence he witnessed -- particularly on his own native reserve, among his own people.  But carnage and violence are the nature of police work.  I have a son-in-law who is a firefighter and he deals with tragedy all the time.  What if he were to drink and smoke on the job?  Would we all feel safe if he zig-zaggedly drove the fire engine and staggered into burning buildings?

For some reason, everyone is blaming the RCMP?  They could not have been more sympathetic in their public statements.  Francis called the marijuana-smoking "a red herring".  No, it wasn't a red herring, it was the "real herring".  Drug use was the issue.  While it's always sad when someone commits suicide (my own brother did so 31 years ago), there are other issues plaguing these people and try as any employer might to counsel them, the employer should not be held responsible.   

The saddest thing is the loss his action has now caused his wife and four children to bear.