Scientology Influencing Arizona Laws
Thursday April 6, 2006
The Church of Scientology is as much of an opponent of mental health care in the medical field as conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists are opposed to evolution - and the opposition is about as reality-based, too. Like fundamentalists, the Scientologists are achieving legislative influence, getting the Arizona legislature to crack down on the use of drugs to treat mental illnesses.
The Arizona Republic reports:
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights has courted key lawmakers with trips to glitzy Scientologist events in Hollywood. And, observers say, it has been the force behind more than two dozen bills in Arizona in recent years, including measures to restrict prescriptions of Ritalin and mood-altering drugs.
One of the measures pushed by the group is likely to be approved by the state Senate on Monday. Senate Bill 1477, the psychotropic-drug bill that received preliminary approval this week, would add more state oversight of clinical trials involving tranquilizers and other drugs that affect the mind at state-funded institutions. Supporters say they do not believe people are always informed of the possible side effects of drugs like Prozac and Ritalin. [...]
“They don’t believe there is such a thing as mental illness,” said Sen. Robert Cannell, the Legislature’s only medical doctor. “They have such an influence on the Legislature it is scary.”
It is possible to reasonably and fairly raise concerns about how often mental illnesses are diagnosed and, hence, how often pharmaceuticals are prescribed. Because Scientologists start from the premise that mental illness doesn’t exist and that neither psychiatric nor medical treatment of “mental illness” are valid, though, their critiques can’t be treated as reasonable or fair. Their critiques of the treatment of mental illnesses are about as reasonable and credible as the Christian Right’s criticisms of evolution and modern science.
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