As I was writing last
month's issue of Health & Healing, Buford
O'Neal Furrow Jr. walked into the North Valley Jewish Community Center in
Los Angeles and, without a word, fired 70 rounds with a Uzi-type gun,
wounding five people. A month earlier, Mark Barton murdered his wife and
two children and then methodically and dispassionately gunned down 21
people in two brokerage firms in Atlanta, killing nine. These and virtually all
of the gun-related massacres that have made headlines over the past decade have had
one thing in common:
THEY WERE PERPETRATED BY PEOPLE TAKING PROZAC, ZOLOFT, LUVOX, PAXIL OR A RELATED
ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUG.
Last month, I warned you about the dangers of these selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and detailed a few of the scores of
murders, suicides, and other acts of violence committed by people taking
PROZAC-like drugs. THESE DRUGS CAN CAUSE AKATHISIA, MENTAL AND PHYSICAL
AGITATION THAT SPARKS SELF-DESTRUCTIVE, VIOLENT BEHAVIOR. They can also
induce dissociative reactions, making those who take the drugs
INSENSITIVE TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR BEHAVIOR.
This is the type of drug that Eric Harris was taking when he walked
into Columbine High School and massacred his fellow students. Kip
Kinkel, who killed his parents, then went to his high school in Oregon,
killed two students and wounded 22 others, was taking PROZAC. Joseph
Wesbecker was taking PROZAC when he killed seven people with an AK-47 at
a printing plant in Kentucky, before taking his own life.
It's Not Guns And It's Not Movies
Atrocities such as these have become disturbingly common over the
past few years. We as a society are searching for reasons to explain
these grizzly murders, which have torn at the heart and soul of the
American culture. In a desperate effort to stave off future
catastrophes, we've been instituting stringent gun control measures and
considering censorship of movies.
Folks, guns and movies don't cause these tragically frequent
episodes of inexplicable violence. The real reason is written out on a
prescription pad by psychiatrists and doctors all over the country--these
monstrous acts were done not by criminals, but ordinary people high on
prescription drugs.
Yet the overuse of PROZAC-LIKE DRUGS is not even a part of the
national debate, and those who sound the warning against them are
ignored. I can only surmise that the reason the FDA continues to
disregard these mounting SSRI-related casualties is because of this
agency's close alliance with the multi-billion-dollar drug companies.
Just imagine what the FDA would do if there were evidence that these
massacres were performed by people taking natural antidepressants.
Let's Get Rid Of These Drugs
I propose that we take measures to protect ourselves from these
dangerous drugs by insisting that the FDA removes them from the market.
Drugs have been removed for far less compelling reasons and the research
on the negative side effects of SSRIs is indisputable. Can the FDA be persuaded to
protect the American public from these dangerous drugs?
Let's give it a nudge and see. I urge you to state your views on
this matter in a letter to Jane Henney, M.D., Commissioner, Food and Drug
Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 1471, Rockville, MD 20857. Or go to the
FDA web site. Send copies of your letter to your Senators and Congressmen, and the
International Coalition for Drug Awareness at P.O. Box 1044, West Jordan,
UT 84084.
John