Maine Governor’s Independent Commission Withholds Important Drug Information on Robert Card
The saturation of media coverage on government “special commissions,” failed gun control legislation and mass mental health spending in the aftermath of mass killings, whether by intent or accident, misses the singular thing that usually is withheld… the name of the drug, or cocktail of psychiatric drugs, the killers have been prescribed and by who.
The failed attempts to legislate violent human behavior, and the deep thinkers appointed to commissions that routinely produce investigations that fail to answer even the most basic questions, do nothing to reduce mass violence. In fact, what these commissions really are revealing is an apparent determination to withhold behavioral health information, including psychiatric drugs use among the mass shooters.
The Maine Interim Report released in March 2024 was supposed to provide an update about the investigation into why Robert Card, a military reservist, killed 18 people and wounded 13 others in October of 2023 in Lewiston, Maine. So far, it appears that the Independent Commission set up by Governor Mills is looking to place blame on gaps in mental health coverage then expand power to the behavioral health industry, increase mental health funding and try and ram thru more gun control.
This is a very similar game plan to what came from the Virginia Tech Commission after Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 people in April of 2007. The University came to the conclusion that mental health information wasn’t shared and, therefore, the public needed massive increased mental health funding. These commissions don’t reflect successful track records and at some point the public has to ask whether it is really possible to completely identify the singular cause of mass shootings?
Interestingly, what is being revealed with each new mass shooting is the role mental health is playing. It takes time, but with each new commission review we find that law enforcement knew of the mental health aspect of the case within hours of the shooting. It makes sense, right? Law enforcement would be privy to that information as soon as the perpetrator had been identified. They’d know whether the shooter was receiving mental health services, where and from whom and what psychiatric drugs they may have been prescribed.
Of course, what we find out too late is that this information is imperative to understanding why the person may have snapped. In the case of Robert Card, the interim report released by the commission completely skips over what medications Card had been prescribed. This is a problem. The commission had no problem revealing that Card had been prescribed medications while a patient at the Four Winds Psychiatric Hospital but didn’t bother to let the public know which drugs had been prescribed. This is serious. This information would help everyone understand what may have caused the violent behavior. Why would the commission deliberately withhold that information?
Well, let’s guess. Is it possible that Card was prescribed a cocktail of psychiatric drugs while he was a patient at Four Winds? Sure. Perhaps some of the known side effects of that cocktail of drugs included mania, psychosis, abnormal behavior, violent behavior, and homicidal and suicidal thinking. Then let’s remember that Card apparently didn’t like the drugs and stopped taking them after leaving the psychiatric facility. Oops! Bad things happen when people cold turkey off psychiatric medications. Is that what occurred? Who knows, but the point is that the public has a right to know what drugs the killer had been taking.
Governor Mills promised a legitimate review. So far, the commission has been playing fast and loose with important information. If the drug information is protected, let us know why. If not, provide it. Then, and only then, can we have an informed conversation about whether restrictive gun legislation, if any, is needed, whether increased mental health funding is necessary or maybe, just maybe, we need to discuss whether mental health played a role in the violent attack.
Just how committed to getting to the bottom of this problem are you Governor Mills?
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