Another day, another school massacre.
Nothing so turns the stomachs and infuriates the soul than these now all too routine crimes.
As a human being, you have to point a finger at something. We demand answers. We abhor the vacuum of “What the hell..?”
So, guns become a likely target for blame.
But you think about it a bit, and it doesn’t hold up. There are lots of guns, and only a very few people who use them in such a horrific way.
Video-games, Death Metal music, other art forms that are disturbing and violent can also seem a likely source. But after all, they are just “entertainment.” Many of the greatest works of literature, film and music have had disturbing or violent elements. That alone doesn’t seem like the prime candidate.
So, what are we left with?
Disturbed people, crazy people… okay. Well, obviously, that’s a category.
But what about this fact: all school shooters have been on some kind of anti-depressant, or other psychotropic drug. Some have been on several.
Wouldn’t that be a worthy area of investigation? I mean, you can do something about that. There have always been crazy people. There haven’t always been crazy people on mind-altering, experimental (modern antidepressants are “experimental” as far as populations are concerned) substances.
Sure seems that way to me.
One wants to lash out, one wants to correct an abomination. One should demand answers. But let’s point our fingers in the correct general direction, one which will bear some fruit.
Prozac, Zoloft, all these meds carry black box warnings about side effects like “Suicidal and/or Homicidal thoughts and actions.” Should those be acceptable side effects?
If a car manufacturer put out a car with the warning that “A certain percentage of vehicles will drive suddenly off a cliff or explode without warning”, wouldn’t it become the target of scrutiny? Heck, it happened to Toyota with the stuck down accelerator, and they got run through the wringer, and rightly so.
Shouldn’t drug manufacturers and the doctors who recommend these drugs also be censured and encouraged to, I don’t know, knock it off?
I don’t think I’m being unreasonable. What do you think?
Exactly ! Why hasn’t there been an inquiry ? Governments seem so keen to issue enquiries, inquests and committees, why isn’t there one investigating the elephant in this room !
Hello Jim, I agree with you. Psychiatric drugs have been involved in these school shootings practically every time. I live in the Netherlands (Amsterdam). The media here also covered this disasterted in Connecticut. Funny enough the only questions that is being asked are about the fire arm laws in the US. Europeans are getting this news, I guess as part of
lobby against guns. However in our country a similar shooting occured while guns are not freely allowed, but this guy was on psychiatric treatment and even stated his intentions to his doctor. similar
ountry
also similar shootings have occured (by a guy
This I so on point. There is one common thread running Through all these shootings And it is that all of the perpetrators Have been on a psych drug.
Jim, Thank you for putting into words all that I have thought. You should run for political office.
It amazes me how people grab onto that guns are the issue. It’s actually deflecting the real source of the problem. It takes people like you and I and groups like the Citizens Commission on Human Rights to spread the truth and educate people about the true cause of these violent attacks.
Mainstream media will not cover this so we have to as caring Americans get our message out as many ways as we can using other means. The truth exists and it can be found at http://www.CCHR.org.
Best, Lee
The black box message says it all. No, homicidal and suicidal “thoughts” are not acceptable side effects. This post should go viral, and I’ll do my part.
Thanks. Anybody who is interested should visit http://www.cchr.org for more info.
You raise a very good point. It seems like these drugs are prescribed routinely without a great deal of medical attention being paid to the person taking them. I know one person who takes such drugs and has no insurance, so does not receive routine medical care. How this person got a prescription is unknown to me. Every avenue should be explored to stop these horrific crimes. On a positive note, I look forward to seeing your mother in her current play in Overland Park soon.
Thanks for the comment. Hope you enjoy seeing Marion in her current show; we enjoyed it when we were there at Thanksgiving!
Yes! They should! I wrote a book, Research Triangle: Guns, Drugs, Children, in which the connection between school violence and prescribed drugs was made clear. Today my own father told me it was because of violent video games. I nearly yelled at the old man: “Have you not been reading my books?” I didn’t because he’s very old and his heart might give out. But it’s the drugs, folks. That’s all.
It is not the gun it is the person holding the gun. Check the connection to Psych drugs and you have the target.
I think it is odd that a doctor would recommend drugs to a supposed depressed or suicidal if the label reads side effects like “Suicidal and/or Homicidal thoughts and actions.” Things that make you go hmmm? WT…?
Thank you, Jim, for a very sane response. Now if we can just get some of these viewpoints on mainstream media, people might wake up to the real dangers.
Now is definitely the time to ask WHY ????? It is also the time to ensure we name the who(s) in these atrocities. For too long the US Justice Department has failed to look in their own backyards for the real culprits in these atrocities. It has not only been documented that Psychiatric Meds cause such insane behavior but the bottles on MANY such drugs carry dire warnings. Yet the FDA allows these drugs to flow freely across America. Draw your own conclusions. Mine are too unsavory to say in a public forum. I will say this however; to let pseu-doscientific crackpots administer drugs on an ever expanding scale is shameful. WE the American people STILL have our First Amendment right to speak out. If we fail to use it to demand answers then we too are guilty of the sins of omission. Please get onto any and every petition you can find to have these tagic events INVESTIGATED FULLY. Your children and you have the right to life. That too is guarantees to you.
Sincerely, Reverend Jesse Wells
Sorry for my spelling errors. I believe it still communicates.
Jesse Wells
Then again, think of this: you’ll note that in these cases, the person is normally in “withdrawal from” the medication. Which means they stopped taking their medication as it was prescribed, whether due to doctor’s orders or otherwise. In these cases at least, we’re left wondering whether the drug itself is to blame, or the poor management.
If I get flu shots for 10 years and then miss a year, and I get the flu, does it mean the flu shot is to blame?
I am not saying we should not investigate – we should. But there are many explanations to these connections that do not implicate the drugs in question. They happen to help a large number of people.
Just as it’s unwise to blame the weapon for a person’s antisocial behavior, it’s unwise to blame the drug. No drug will make you do what isn’t already in your head. I would more readily blame the manner of prescription, the screening, the expectation of the doctor that a patient can maintain the regimen sufficiently, before I blame a medicine that has helped far more people than it has hurt.
Since ALL drugs are basically poisons whom have they truly ever helped? We are gulled into a belief of their supposed help but JUST LISTEN to the effects these drugs cause directly in many. Their commercials spend more time on their HARMFUL EFFECTS than on anything else. Listen closely please and then ask yourself if you would feel safe ingesting these substances or God forbid giving them to your child.
If one must play Devil’s advocate go to CCHR. ORG. And see the truth of how Humanity is betrayed hourly. Sincerely jesse Wells