Re: [RANT] Giving Mind Control Drugs to Children

At 08:13 AM 7/10/96 -0400, Clay Olbon II wrote:
First, a disclaimer: I think adults should be allowed to ingest whatever substances they desire, and parents should be allowed to raise their kids without undue interference from the government.
Having said that, I think that the major issue with Ritalin is that parents are giving it to their children in significant percentages of the population.
My real problem with the whole thing is that Ritalin is being prescribed by government employees in most cases. It thus constitutes behavior modification of the population by the government which is certainly a human rights violation. It is arguably a First Amendment violation for the government to chemically prevent you from expressing yourself in certain ways. They should not even be allowed to advocate such treatment. Obviously, I have no problem if private individuals acting alone or in consultation with other private individuals decide to tank themselves up to the gills (as long as they buy their own drogas) but government "suggestions" for B-Mod should be very troubling to most of the readers of this list. Like religion, if you are crazy enough to ask your government what mind-altering drugs you should take, the government should say -- "No Comment. That's up to you." Government does not exist for the benefit of the governed. Public school Ritalin prescriptions do not exist for the benefit of the prescribees. Once there was a 7-year-old girl. The schools of Charlotte, NC diagnosed her as suffering from minimal brain dysfunction (MBD) and prescribed Ritalin. Instead, her parents sent her to a non-government school in another country where they did not employ Ritalin. They substituted teaching in its place. Within a few years, she could decline Latin nouns and everything. DCF "First God was the most important thing in men's lives so naturally men killed each other for God. Then the State became the most important thing in men's lives so naturally men killed each other for the State. Finally, Health became the most important thing in men's lives so naturally men killed each other for Health."
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Duncan Frissell