America has a tenacious chronicle of blaming something other than triggerman for throttle deaths . We ’ve had people blaming backpacks , we ’ve had people saying few doors in school would entail fewer shoal shooting , and of course , we ’ve blamed violent video games .
Now , following the modish schoolhouse shot on Friday , the NRA ’s incoming chairman has suggested that vital medication may be to blame for the school shootings , rather than the obvious culprit .
Oliver North appeared onFox News Sundayand was first shown two clips of young students who had just witness the shooting at Santa Fe High School .
" I should n’t be go through this at my school , " one student , Dakota Schrader , said . " I feel scared to even go back . "
" It ’s been happening everywhere , " Paige Curry said . " I ’ve always kind of felt like eventually it was belong to go on here too . "
In response , North tell apart the show that ferocity on TV and in movie was to charge , as well as Ritalin .
" We ’re trying like the dickens to treat the symptom without treating the disease … The disease is youngsters who are steeped in a culture of violence . They ’ve been drugged in many fount , " he secern the anchor .
" Many of these young boys have been on Ritalin since they were in Kindergarten . Now I am for sure not a doctor " – yes , Oliver , that much is clean-cut – " I ’m a marine , but I can see those kinds of things happening and endangering those two gal . "
The suspect , 17 - class - old Dimitrios Pagourtzis , is not reported to be on Ritalin . His lawyer Nicholas Poehl order on Sunday that he was not aware that Pagourtzis was on any kind of medicine at all , Business Insider report . He was surprised that North would hint the link , in a case that was less than 48 hours old .
But does the science back up North ’s Ritalin call ? In short : No .
George DuPaul , a psychologist at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania , secernate theAssociated Pressthat child on Ritalin actually tend to be less fast-growing .
“ There ’s really no grounds whatsoever that link treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with Ritalin and drugs like that with furiousness , let alone torpedo violence , ” he said .
“ What ’s more likely is that kids with mental health conditions who engage in this case of violent behaviour , it ’s the rudimentary condition and not the discussion that contribute to this conduct . "
" When conduct under the direction of a doc , Ritalin can greatly improve the symptoms of minimal brain dysfunction and allow children to do better in school and have better relationships with their peers . " Dr Eugene Gu , a physician and healthcare columnist , tweet .
" Blame ordnance for throttle violence – not the medicinal drug that may help take it under ascendance . "
As many hoi polloi have pointed out , the NRA will do anything , including blaming sometimes vital medication , to avoid charge guns .
