As I have previously stated, the commencement and increase of this kind of grotesque, maniacal violence in our schools is date coincident with the introduction and use of mind-altering drugs by our children.These graphs show the alarming increase in the production of Ritalin from 1985 to 1995 as well as the number of ADD/ADHD diagnoses from 1988 to 1997. Bearing these in mind, consider the events of the last two years alone:
1. On May 25, 1997, 18-year-old Jeremy Strohmeyer raped and murdered a 7-year-old African American girl in Las Vegas, Nevada. Strohmeyer had been diagnosed with ADD and prescribed Dexedrine, a Ritalin-like drug, immediately prior to the killing.
2. On October 1st, 1997, in Pearl Mississippi, 16-year-old Luke Woodham stabbed his mother, 50-year-old Mary Woodam, to death and then went to his high school where he shot nine people - killing two teenage girls and wounding seven others. Published reports say he was on Prozac.
3. Exactly two months later on Dec 1, 1997, Michael Carneal, a 14-year-old, opened fire on students at a high school prayer meeting in West Paducah, Kentucky. Three teenagers were killed, five others were wounded, one of whom was paralyzed. Carneal was reportedly on Ritalin.
4. Then in February, 1998 a young man in Huntsville, Alabama, while on Ritalin went psychotic - chopping up his parents with an ax and also killing one sibling and almost murdering another.
5. On March 24, 1998 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, 11-year-old Andrew Golden and 14-year-old Mitchell Johnson shot 15 people killing four students, one teacher, and wounding 10 others. According to one report, the boys were believed to be on Ritilan.
6. Two months later another grisly school massacre occurred. On May 21, 1998 15-year-old Kip Kinkel of Springfield, Oregon murdered his parents and proceeded to his high school where he went on a rampage killing two students and wounding 22 others. Kinkel had been prescribed both Prozac and Ritalin.
7. On April 16th, 1999, 15-year-old Shawn Cooper of Notus, Idaho took a 12-guage shot gun to school and started firing, injuring one student and holding the school hostage for about 20 minutes. Terrified students ran for their lives, some barricading themselves in classrooms. Cooper had been taking Ritalin when he fired the shotgun’s rounds.
8. The incident in Idaho did not make the national press (no one, thank God, was killed). But all that changed four days later when 18-year-old Eric Harris killed 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School before killing himself. Harris was on one of the SSRI anti-depressants called Luvox.
9. One month later to the day, on May 20th of this year TJ Solomon, a 15-year-old high school student in Conyers, Georgia, while on Ritalin opened fire on and wounded six of his classmates. Thankfully, none were killed.
10. Then there’s 14-year-old Rod Mathews who had been prescribed Ritalin since the third grade and beat a classmate to death with a bat.
And 19-year-old James Wilson who had been on psychiatric drugs for 5 years and took a .22 caliber revolver into an elementary school in Greenwood, South Carolina killing two young girls, and wounding seven other children and two teachers!