America's real drug problem not what people think

By Paul Bremmer

America has a huge drug problem, which bestselling author David Kupelian explored in a recent viral column. But the biggest drug problem of all, he says, may not be with illegal drugs.

"The legal drug world of psychiatry and psych meds and the illegal drug world of heroin and crack," he says, "they’re not as different as we like to think." Discussing his popular new book, "The Snapping of the American Mind," during a recent appearance on The Dove TV's "Focus Today," Kupelian bluntly summarized the increasing convergence of the legal and illegal drug worlds: "It's basically people that are hurting, [who are] taking, in many cases, the same drugs for the same reasons. It's just in one case they got it from a doctor, in another case they got it from a pusher."

No matter how people acquire them, however, mind-altering drugs are being relied on by far too many Americans, Kupelian contends.

Watch an excerpt of David Kupelian's interview on "The Dove TV" …

"When you have pain – whether it's physical pain or mental/emotional pain, [or] conflict in your life, relational conflict – it's kind of a natural thing for human beings to look for relief," Kupelian said, adding that hopefully it's genuine understanding and healing that are sought. "But too often, we end up taking the easy way out and going on drugs."

Kupelian, whose previous books include the culture-war classic, "The Marketing of Evil" and its sequel, "How Evil Works," argues that questionable drug use extends well beyond the 25 million or so Americans who use illegal drugs and the 60 million with a drinking problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control, he notes, 11 percent of all Americans 12 and older are currently taking antidepressants, which, though legal of course, have led to many serious adverse results, including, in extreme cases, suicide and homicide.

"Every antidepressant of any dose from any manufacturer sold in America has a black-box warning label from the Food and Drug Administration warning of 'suicidality,'" he said – meaning, "you may want to kill yourself. Now, we're giving people who are depressed these drugs."

The author assured listeners he is not attacking the drugs themselves, saying they may be truly helpful in some cases, but rather the scandalous over-prescribing of such medications.

"I grew up in the age of vaccines and wonder drugs," Kupelian said, so "drugs can be very important." But he noted that in one recent year, "we had 260 million prescriptions for antidepressants in this country, [when] there's only 320 million people" in the total population!

Something approaching 10 percent of pregnant women in America are taking antidepressants, he said, pointing out that these powerful drugs, which cross the placenta, have been proven to be harmful to an unborn baby's health.

"Pregnant women don't drink wine or eat soft cheese because they don't want to harm their baby, especially in the first trimester," he noted. "But they have these powerful drugs that monkey around with the levels of serotonin in your brain. ... Every peer-reviewed study without exception, and there are many that have been done – animal studies, human studies – show that these drugs are bad for the baby developing."

It is not just Kupelian who believes antidepressants are seriously over-prescribed. There is a raging debate within the psychiatric profession over whether they are too quick to prescribe not just antidepressants, but all psychiatric drugs.

Kupelian says this debate points to a deeper issue: The helping professions – and not just psychologists and psychiatrists, but pastoral counselors as well, he says – are far too quick to deal with every trouble, every stress, every emotional trauma, with drugs. He even references Christian pastors dealing with troubled parishioners by breezily telling them to go to the doctor and get a prescription for antidepressants.

At best, psychiatric drugs might mask or "take the edge off" emotional difficulties, Kupelian noted, but ultimately they cannot deliver the sort of genuine healing people truly need and deserve.

The author reasoned: "We are hurting ourselves by drugging ourselves to solve these problems." Imagine, he added, that "you have horrible rage and anger," or live with deep "betrayal because your father left you" or because your spouse divorced you – do doctors and psychiatrists "really think you’re solving these problems by drugging somebody?”

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Also, get Kupelian's culture-war bestseller, "The Marketing of Evil" – now available in paperback – and the acclaimed sequel, "How Evil Works," also in paperback – all available, autographed by the author, at the WND Superstore!