Mental Illness Should Not Be Punished As A Crime. There Is A Better Way.

Los Angeles D.A. Jackie Lacey Wants To Change The Way Police, Prosecutors Deal With Mentally Ill In Los Angeles

November 11, 2014, Scpr.org

The Los Angeles County criminal justice system – from police and prosecutors to judges and social workers – is failing to humanely and effectively deal with mentally ill people who commit crimes, according to a report District Attorney Jackie Lacey plans to deliver Wednesday.

The report, prepared by consultants with Policy Research Associates, Inc., calls for better training, coordination and resources to help the thousands of men and women who pass through the justice system each year.

L.A. County jails hold more than 18,000 people on any given night. An estimated 3,500 are mentally ill. Forty-three percent of them are African American, according to one study. (See the full report below).

The report comes as the U.S. Department of Justice seeks to impose reforms on the way the county treats mentally ill inmates. Lacey formally delivers her report to the Board of Supervisors Wednesday.

Too few police officers are adequately trained to de-escalate encounters with mentally ill people on the streets, the report says. In addition, there are insufficient resources for the county’s Psychiatric Mobile Response Teams.

Bottom line: It’s simply easier to take someone to jail than get them help.

“It is often more time efficient for law enforcement to book an individual into jail on a minor charge…rather than spend many hours waiting in a psychiatric emergency department for an individual to be seen,” the report says.

And while there are an estimated 1,800 hospital beds for psychiatric patients in L.A. County, “only a small percentage of those beds can actually be accessed by individuals who are uninsured.” Consultants collected much of their information during an all-day conference with law enforcement officials and social workers earlier this year.

The report describes a system in need of significant changes: In the jails, mentally ill people are receiving inadequate care. At the courthouse, prosecutors, judges and social workers often “lack alignment” when deciding whether its safe to divert someone from criminal prosecution into treatment.

Once someone is released from jail, there’s often no place to go for help. The Department of Mental Health “needs more resources to keep pace with the high volume of referrals and short time frames with which to link individuals to needed services.”

The report identifies five points at which the criminal justice system can divert a mentally ill person into treatment – starting with the moment of police contact. It recommends the Board of Supervisors fund more training for police officers and expand diversion programs. It also recommends creation of a resource center for “criminal justice/mental health technical assistance,” so the justice system can collect and share data on mentally ill offenders.

The report does not include budget recommendations, but mental health advocates have said treating mentally ill people will be cheaper in the long run than locking them up. The report acknowledges this.

“Alternatives to incarceration have gained momentum as a humane and cost effective strategy to reduce criminal justice costs, and improve access to needed services and support - without compromising public safety,” the report states.

“This is an excellent start,” said Peter Eliasberg, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. Other activists agreed.

“We think the report exposes tremendous suffering for mentally ill people,” said Marc-Anthony Johnson of Dignity and Power Now. The report also is further evidence the county should abandon plans to spend $2 billion to replace the aging Men’s Central Jail, he added.

“We think the Board of Supervisors should stop the $2 billion jail plan and move forward with a mental health diversion program that is comprehensive."

Source:  www.scpr.org

Recommended Reading - An Important Perspective on Child Sex Trafficking and Exploitation: "Paid For" My Journey Through Prostitution by Rachel Moran

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Patrick Kennedy, Mental Health Advocate, Man in Recovery & Co-Founder of One Mind for Research, Cites Reasons for Now Opposing Marijuana Legalization on Piers Morgan Live

One Mind for Research website:  1mind4research.org

The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health's Emmy award-winning series Profiles of Hope features Rick Springfield

The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health's Emmy award-winning series Profiles of Hope returns this year with all new inspirational stories of overcoming the stigma of mental illness. This week, singer, actor, and writer Official Rick Springfield discusses his lifelong battle with depression and the obstacles he's overcome on the road to hope, wellness and recovery.

 
Source:  Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe

High Rates of Cannabis Use in People with Mental Illnesses

By Mark Cowen, Senior medwireNews Reporter - 12 April 2013

Compr Psychiatry 2013; Advance online publication

medwireNews: People with mental illnesses have a significantly higher prevalence of cannabis use and cannabis use disorders (CUDs) than mentally healthy individuals, researchers report.

"Extrapolating our results to the general population, we estimate that persons with a diagnosable primary mental illness constitute almost 75% of all cannabis users, with a particularly high prevalence of more frequent cannabis use and CUDs in this population," say Shaul Lev-Ran (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and team.

The prevalence of cannabis use and CUDs (cannabis abuse or dependence as defined by DSM-IV criteria) was particularly increased among patients with certain personality disorders (PDs) and bipolar I disorder.

The researchers studied data on 43,070 individuals, aged 18 years and older, who participated in the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.

Of the respondents, 12,659 had experienced mood, anxiety, personality, or substance abuse disorders (SUDs) in the previous 12 months.

The researchers found that the prevalence of weekly cannabis use, less than weekly cannabis use, and CUDs over the past 12 months among individuals with mental health disorders was 4.4%, 5.4% and 4.0%, respectively, compared with corresponding rates of 0.6%, 1.1% and 0.4% among those without mental illnesses.

Weekly cannabis use and CUD rates were highest among individuals with antisocial PD (13.4 and 12.0%, respectively), dependent PD (10.5 and 14.2%, respectively), histrionic PD (9.9 and 9.8%, respectively), and bipolar I disorder (9.6 and 9.4%, respectively).

Overall, 72.2% of all individuals who used cannabis and 81.8% of those with CUDs had a mental illness.

After accounting for sociodemographic variables, the team found that respondents with a mental illness were a significant 5.2 times more likely to have used cannabis in the past 12 months than those without a mental illness. This increased risk remained significant after further adjustment for any non-cannabis SUD, at an odds ratio of 2.5.

In addition, individuals with a mental illness were 8.0 times more likely to have CUDs than mentally healthy individuals, after adjustment for sociodemographic variables. And this increased risk also remained significant after further adjustment for non-cannabis SUDs, at an odds ratio of 3.2.

Lev-Ran et al conclude in Comprehensive Psychiatry: "Our findings emphasize the importance of proper screening for frequent cannabis use and CUDs particularly among individuals with mental illness, and focusing prevention and treatment efforts on the mentally ill."

medwireNews (www.medwirenews.com) is an independent clinical news service provided by Springer Healthcare Limited. © Springer Healthcare Ltd; 2013

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About the Gun Issue: I was Raised in a House Full of Guns

The Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting has raised issues about gun control, mental health and is sure keep on raising these issues.  Listening to the gun debate, I have been wondering why people believe that disarming America is the answer to school shootings and gun violence.

This afternoon, I got a call from my friend Ron Kirkish, a trusted advisor on drug policy who often inspires me to follow my instincts.  We spoke at length about the conversation that is taking place in America right now and how banning assault weapons has become a necessity, once again.  At the same time I was also reminded that the gun issue is an issue more familiar to me than I care to recall at times. 

My father (Fred A. Datig) who passed away last year after he lost his battle with cancer, was in the international arms trade.  He was also a world class authority on identifying bullets and firearms from various wars and wrote many technical books about guns, still in circulation today.  

The house I grew up in was three stories with a large basement and guns were everywhere.  We even had disarmed bombs and canons at our house.  My parents were never at PTA meetings, partied all the time and we never went to church as a family.  My father did not believe in God and had a serious drinking and smoking problem.  Looking back at how I turned out in my teens and twenties, one could easily say that my parents made a lot of mistakes when it came to raising me.  And even though I was not raised in a nurturing environment, was exposed to alcoholic rage and guns continuously, the one thing my parents did do right, is they made clear to me that there would be consequences beyond anything I could imagine if I ever touched one of the guns in our house.  In all the years I lived in that house and with all the guns that were brought in and out of that house, I never once touched a gun.

Americans are quick to believe that taking guns away from Americans who have a constitutional right to own them, is somehow going to solve the problem we have with gun violence.  I should also mention that while I am an American by birth, I was raised in Switzerland, in a town that had less than 1% crime rate, where everyone had a gun and men had to serve in the military every year until they were retired.

But in this day and age, there is a lot of brainwashing going on and there is no question in my mind, that we are living in dangerous times where we are being influenced by progressives and liberals who are asking us to abandon everything America stands for, disarm America, legalize drugs and censor the truth of what would happen to our society if these things really came to fruition.

There is also the debate on mental health, another topic close to my heart.  The mental health establishment has been looking to diagnosis and drugs in order to treat people’s mental ailments.  To diagnose someone today is much easier than it was sixty years ago, when the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders had 40 ailments, considered to be serious mental disorders.  Today, these disorders have gone beyond 4,000 and counting.  Assessment models to identify these ailments are limited and plain.  But if there’s one thing we can count on, it is that there is a drug for every disorder and horrific side affects to go along with it.  To top it all off, we live in a society where we label those we don’t understand and view them as a subculture, out-casting and pushing them away from mainstream popularity. 

If there is one piece of advice I would give to Americans, it would be if you own a gun, be trained in how you should use it and know the laws that apply to you as a gun owner.  Don’t leave it in your house, leave it at your shooting range or gun club.  That should also include your ammo.  The reasons for this is lead exposure.  A change I would like to see legislators make are stricter laws against parents whose children end up playing with their guns or God forbid worse.

If you need to have a gun in your house, lock it in a secure place, where it is out of sight.  If you have kids, tell them first that you love them and hug them often but if they touch your gun they will face serious consequences such as being grounded. 

In my opinion, if you are not going to respect what your gun represents, you should not use it, nor should you have a gun.  A gun is for protection and for placing intruders on notice.  Chances are, if you understand what your gun represents, you will never understand what it means to shoot somebody in anger, but rather in self-defense as a last resort - if at all. 

Let’s keep America strong and let it’s Constitution bring us the freedom and liberty we love.  Be it guns, mental health or drug abuse, Education will make America strong.  When we understand the facts, we will understand our impulses. 

God bless the people of Newtown Connecticut and God bless America.