Guns, Psychiatric Drugs, Schools, and Media
By Lee Warren, B.A., D.D.
(C) 1999 PLIM REPORT Vol. 8 No. 2
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See Related Articles: SPIRITUAL REALITY OF CURRENT EVENTS
Introduction
The recent shooting at Columbine High School that took place April 20, 1999, in Littleton, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, shocked the nation. It was the deadliest school shooting incident in American history, for 15 were killed and 23 wounded, which included one teacher and the two-shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Most Americans do not know that there have been approximately 14 school shootings over the last four years.
All of these shootings by white adolescent males who turned guns on their fellow students seem to be a 1990s phenomenon. The first school shooting began on Feb. 2, 1996, in Mosee Lake, Washington. A 14 year-old student walked into his algebra class wearing a trench coat. He killed two students and a teacher with a rifle and wounded someone else. This was the only school shooting that year. In 1997 there was three shootings, ten in 1998, and 2 so far in 1999. The total number killed so far in these school shootings has been 44 with more than 55 wounded. The last shooting was May 20, 1999, in Conyers, Georgia. There were no fatalities and about 6 wounded. [For more details see ABC NEWS Web site: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/shootingslist980521.html]
Why was there a media frenzy and what is the point of this article?
The media went into a frenzy to cover this story. They spread rumors and half-truths like wild fire.
Reporters interviewed experts, such as psychiatrists, psychologists, etc., and they gave their opinions of what happened and questioned why the school administers or the parents did not see the signs. Clearly, the media began to paint a picture to the nations viewers that was less than genuine. Many people reached a verdict without hearing all the facts.
This supports the premise of the movie "Network" starring Faye Dunaway and Peter Finch. It focuses on quoting the book Circle of Intrigue by Taxe Marrs. He explains: "how television is used to program and control the masses for the benefit of multinational corporations. The television networks condition the masses to react emotionally, without thinking contrast to their own interest (p. 256)."
The point of this article is to show that the media played down the causal effects of mind altering drugs in some of these school shootings.
Why did these shootings occur?
The media, President Clinton, and other politicians focused on three superficial causes for the school shootings which the media flashed constantly before the minds of the nation. They are the availability of guns to youth, the violence seen in video games, television, and the movies, and inattentive parents.
Most researchers know that there are deeper, fundamental causes for these shootings (that are simply symptoms) within middle-class white American families. It is these causes that are driving the youth insane, which is confirmed in the book of Revelation regarding Mystery Babylons wine driving the nations mad (Rev. 17:3-5). The real causes include the breakdown in families, bonding male role models for adolescent boys, and the fascination with lunatic ideologies such as Nazism and Satanism. Clearly, there is a void of truth.
How did politicians use the shootings?
Now the politicians did not help matters any. They further inflamed the situation and were reminiscent of sharks in a frenzy when they smell their preys blood. Many politicians smelled blood from this situation and used it to further their cause against guns.
The Senate was debating the gun control bill when these shootings occurred in Littleton, Colorado and Georgia. The Republicans were against this bill, but when 15 died at Columbine, President Clinton demanded that the Senate pass the gun control bill using this school incident as an example of what happens when guns are available to youth.
The Senate passed the bill and sent it to the House of Representatives for their approval. It became clear to those that have eyes to see that the politicians were maneuvering the publics opinion and the media to back the gun control bill.
The irony of the situation is that guns always have been a part of American homes, especially in the south and west for hundreds of years. So the problem is not the guns, but the childrens state of mind.
There are some who believe these school shootings are planned to take guns away from the American people, but dont have enough proof to make their claims in a court of law. These people believe that someone who wants to kill another person will find a way no matter how many gun laws are passed in America. Killers could use bombs or machetes to achieve the same result. The media plays on the anger and hysteria of the public to get them to back gun laws (see http://www.sightings.com/politics2/manchurian.htm).
What important fact did the media play down?
About a week after the Littleton shooting certain facts were revealed that put this shooting and others in a different light. One of the shooters was under psychiatric care and on medication. In fact, there are at least two or three school shootings where the shooters were on some form of mind-altering drug and under medical care. The media and the politicians glossed over this piece of information. They had gotten the passage of the gun control bill that they wanted from the people by all their misinformation.
Dr. Peter Breggin, an eminent psychiatrist and author of the book Toxin Psychiatry, Talking Back to Prozac, stated at his website "On April 29 the Washington Post confirmed that Eric Harris, the leader in the Littleton tragedy, was taking the psychiatric drug Luvox at the time of the murders. On April 30 the same newspaper published a story quoting expert claims that Luvox is safe and has no association with causing violence. In fact, Luvox and closely related drugs commonly produce manic psychoses, aggression, and other behavioral abnormalities in children and young people." [see Dr. Breggins website http://www.breggin.com/luvox.html] Many medical experts believe that these mind-altering drugs are the potential cure for violence. The truth of the matter is that this is just a theory that has not been proven.
Jon Rappoport examined the implications of prescribed drugs in some of the school shootings in an article entitled "Why Did They Do It?" He states: "In the wake of the Littleton shooting, we find that "American people and lawyers and pundits and child psychologists are pointing the finger at Hollywood, at video games like Doom, at inattentive parents, and at the availability of guns. We have to wonder why almost no one is calling out these drugs."
Can these prescribed drugs cause violent behavior?
What most Americans do not know is that the new mind-altering drugs are very powerful and they do have severe side effects. Many of these powerful drugs are household names, such as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and Luvox. Prozac is the most popular anti-depressant.
These drugs attempt to control the symptoms of depression and anxiety by changing the brains chemistry through altering the level of serotonin, which is a hormone and neurotransmitter.
Now the side effects of Prozac have been well documented by the medical community. It has been linked to suicidal and homicidal actions. According to John Rappoports article, Luvox is very chemically similar to Prozac.
In a conversation with Dr. Breggin, he told John Rappoport the following. "With Luvox there is some evidence of a four percent rate of mania in adolescents. Mania, for certain individuals, could be a component in the grandiose plans to destroy large numbers of other people. Mania can go over the hill to psychosis." [see Dr Breggin website http://www.breggin.com/luvox.html]
Dr. Breggin goes on to state in a syndicated newspaper column the following. "I have no doubt that Prozac can cause or contribute to violence and suicide. Ive seen many cases. In clinical trail, 6 percent of the children became psychotic on Prozac. And manic psychosis can lead to violence."
Dr. Breggin states the following at his website. "According to the manufacturer, Solvay, 4% of children and youth taking Luvox developed mania during short-term controlled clinical trials. Mania is a psychosis, which can produce bizarre, grandiose, highly elaborated destructive plans, including mass murder. Interestingly, in a recent controlled clinical trial, Prozac produced mania in the same age group at a rate of 6%. These are very high rates for drug-induced maniamuch higher than those produced in adults. Yet the risk will be even higher during long-term clinical use where medical supervision, as in the case of Harris, is much more lax than in controlled clinical trials. These drugs also produce irritability, aggression or hostility, alienation, agitation, and loss of empathy."
Were there other students on these mind-altering drugs that committed murder?
What the news does not bring out as often as they emphasize guns is that in at least three shootings (including Harris), the students were on mood-altering drugs. As this article has shown, the medical community is aware that many of the drugs have severe side effects that have been documented in various studies. Thus, these drugs can push an already fragile mental patient over the edge.
In the most recent shooting outside Atlanta, Georgia, the student shooter, T. J. Solomon, who wounded 8, was under medical care and taking the drug Ritalin. His lawyer Ed Garland said: "One study found that some 1.5 million people ages 5 through 18, or 2.8 percent of the nations school-age children, take the drug." according to MSNBC NEWS http://www.msnbc.com/news/261055.asp
The New York Times reported in a copyrighted May 22nd story by David Firestone entitled, "Boy Took Parents Guns for Georgia School Attack, Sheriff Says," that the boy was in the care of a mental health professional and was taking Ritalin. Among other facts the story reveals: "A friend of Solomons family, who said he was authorized to speak on their behalf, said the boy had been under medical treatment for depression, and was taking Ritalin, which is often prescribed, for hyperactivity or an attention deficit."
The Jonesboro, Arkansas, student shooting occurred March 24, 1998. Two boys Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, killed four students and a teacher while wounding 11 others. John Rappoport stated that one of these boys was treated for violent behavior.
In at least 20% of these shootings in the last two years, the shooters were on some mind-altering drugs. Could there be other shooters on these drugs that were not picked up in the news?
Is there a conflict between the media and the drug industry?
Many Americans believe that the America media are standard bearers of the truth, especially in their investigative reporting shows like "CBS 60 Minutes." This is a very naive view of how news reporting works, for there are many factors that affect whether a story will be viewed by the public. Due to space limitations of this article I will only be able to discuss them briefly.
Ownership of the networks, national defense, politicians implication in the story, and finally advertisers dollars are factors for determining whether a story is aired. Most of the primary television networks are owned by major corporations, such as Disney who owns ABC and General Electric who owns CBS. In fact, the American media is more controlled than people realize. It is concentrated into the hands of a very small circle of men.
By nature, the news media is constantly in a conflict of interest with corporations that gives them advertising revenue. If they want to report news on their financial backers, the media risk offending them. This is due to the fact that TV news chief source of revenue is advertising dollars. There are incidents where corporations have pulled their advertising dollars from major networks because of stories coverage by the network news.
John Rappoport said in this article that maybe the situation with the news media not asking the real hard questions and demanding answers from the multinational drug corporations is due to their pocket book or filthy lucre. The American people must be watchful and vigilant against the network news media (Propaganda arm of Mystery Babylon) programming them, as was pointed out earlier in this article in the quote about the premise of the movie Network. The words of the Master Yahshua the Messiah are apropos "the Truth will set you free (Jn. 8:32)." It will also keep you free.
Other website:
http://www.drugawareness.org/Columbine.html