CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PDFSeptember 10, 2005
WHEREAS, On March 21, 2005 16-year-old Native American Jeff Weise went on a shooting rampage at home and at his school on the Red Lake Indian reservation in northern Minnesota, killing nine people and wounding five before committing suicide, and;
WHEREAS, Jeff Weise was reportedly under the influence of the antidepressant Prozac, and;
WHEREAS, In 2002, FOX National News, in a three-part series on violent and suicidal effects of antidepressant drugs on teens, reported that teenagers taking these drugs committed seven out of twelve school shootings in the United States, including;
May 21, 1998: Springfield, Oregon: 15-year-old Kip Kinkel murdered his own parents and then proceeded to school where he opened fire on students in the cafeteria, killing two and wounding 22. Kinkel had been on Prozac.
April 16, 1999: Notus, Idaho: 15-year-old Shawn Cooper fired two shotgun rounds in his school narrowly missing students, wounding one; he was taking a mix of antidepressants.
April 20, 1999: Columbine, Colorado: 18-year-old Eric Harris was on the antidepressant Luvox when he and his partner Dylan Klebold killed twelve classmates and a teacher before taking his own life in the bloodiest school massacre in history. The coroner confirmed that the antidepressant was in his system through toxicology reports while Dylan Klebold’s autopsy was never made public.
May 20, 1999: Conyers, Georgia: 15-year-old T.J. Solomon was being treated with a mix of antidepressants when he opened fire on and wounded 6 of his classmates.
March 7, 2000: Williamsport, Pennsylvania: 14-year-old Elizabeth Bush was on the antidepressant Prozac when she blasted away at fellow students in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, wounding one.
March 22, 2001: El Cajon, California: 18-year-old Jason Hoffman was on two antidepressants, Effexor and Celexa, when he opened fire at his California high school wounding five. Hoffman had also undergone an “anger management” program.
April 10, 2001: Wahluke, Washington: 16-year-old Cory Baadsgaard took a rifle to his high school, and held 23 classmates and a teacher hostage while on a high dose of the antidepressant Effexor.
AND WHEREAS: Jeff Wiese becomes the 8th school shooter in the last seven years who had been taking antidepressant drugs, resulting in 29 dead and 62 wounded, and;
WHEREAS, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Public Health Advisory of March 22, 2004 identified the side effects of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants, stating, “Anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, impulsivity, akathisia (severe restlessness), and mania (psychosis), have been reported in adult and pediatric patients being treated with antidepressants,” and;
WHEREAS, SSRI antidepressants have documented side effects of suicide, mania, psychosis, aggression and hostility, and;
WHEREAS: In May, 2004, one drug manufacturer issued a warning about SSRIs, stating, “There are clinical trial and post-marketing reports with SSRIs and other newer antidepressants, both in pediatrics and adults, of severe agitation-type adverse events coupled with self-harm or harm to others,” and;
WHEREAS, In October 2004, the FDA ordered a “black box” warning label to be prominently displayed on all antidepressants, citing suicidal behavior as a risk for adolescents, and;
WHEREAS, Violence can also be caused from withdrawal from these drugs as the National Preferred Medicines Center, Inc. of New Zealand determined in issuing a report that cited “acute drug withdrawal” in which antidepressant drugs can cause: 1) rebound effects that exacerbate previous symptoms, and 2) new symptoms unrelated to the original condition and unfamiliar to the patient, and;
WHEREAS, According to Harvard Medical School psychiatrist Joseph Glenmullen, author of The Antidepressant Solution, nearly 78 percent of patients have a withdrawal reaction when they stop antidepressants, depending on the drug, and may become suicidal and homicidal,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That the NFWL Joint Policy Committee on Intergovernmental & Inter-tribal Affairs and Education & Training calls for a full Congressional investigation and hearings into the correlation between antidepressant drugs and the rash of school shootings, to include all autopsies, toxicology reports, dosages of drugs that school shooters were either taking or withdrawing from, and testimony from medical experts who have exposed the dangers of these antidepressant drugs, as well as parents and other experts who have knowledge of these events.
ATTEST:
Lucille Hooper, Laguna Pueblo
Wanda Scott, Chickasaw Nation
Senator Linda Gray (AZ)
Published: September 10, 2005
Author: Lucille Hooper, Wanda Scott, Linda Gray
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights is an international psychiatric watchdog group co-founded in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and Dr. Thomas Szasz, Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus, to investigate and expose psychiatric violations of human rights. Contact CCHR's Media Department at 800-869-2247 or humanrights@cchr.org.
