Forced drugging ruled unconstitutional in Alaska (a blast from the past)

A year ago, the Alaska Supreme Court bubbled forth a satisfying ruling that folks all over the country had been itching for. It's just a shame that this ruling is in a state with so few people.

Alaska's high court said forced psychiatric drugging is unconstitutional - which it is. The Alaska Psychiatric Institute had tried forcing the plaintiff to take Zyprexa and other drugs - without proving these drugs were in the plaintiff's best interests or that there weren't better alternatives.

The plaintiff's lawyer said the court's decision may induce major changes in the mind control industry that hopefully won't be limited just to Alaska. But he also says it will affect the profits of the greedy drug companies who peddle their poisons. "The issue of Big Pharma profits is a big one," he said.

The attorney pointed out that the drugs have serious health risks and that the rights of those who couldn't tolerate taking the drugs are supposed to be legally protected. The court agreed and said state law requires hospitals to honor patients' desires against spychiatric (sic) drugs. Furthermore, it said the Alaska Constitution's guarantee of "liberty and privacy" applies.

What? A Constitution that actually applies? Kind of like the U.S. Constitution used to do before the Reaganites began violating it.

While this is an Alaska ruling, other states had rulings like this previously. Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New York have issued very similar decisions. Folks in most other states, however, remain unprotected. Ohio, for instance, ruled in 2000 that the state can forcibly drug detainees in psychiatric facilities even if they are no danger to themselves or others (to borrow the phrase the Far Rightists always use to justify locking up people who disagree with them).

Hopefully other states will pass laws that say the same thing Alaska's ruling says.

(Source: http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1274.shtml;
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/36/1/8)