Mandatory Mental Health Is Detrimental

No Need for a Mental Health App

Recently USA Today ran an article about a new app called “WhatsMyM3”. This is an app designed to determine if you are at risk for depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder or PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). It is not based on any medical or scientific testing and is entirely subjective, leading the person straight into the hands of mental health practitioners.

Mandatory Mental Health Is Detrimental

How the Baker Act Affects Marijuana Users

The Baker Act is a Florida state law where people who appear to be “mentally ill” are are forced to go to a psychiatric hospital because they, apparently, pose a danger to themselves and/or others.
It is in the name of “public safety” that they are involuntarily committed due to their recent display of irrational behavior.
Many young people are being institutionalized after smoking marijuana, due to adverse effects. It has been found that marijuana can be laced with phencyclidine, otherwise known as PCP. With low doses one can expect a change in body awareness, numbness of the extremities and poor muscular coordination. However, higher doses can produce
hallucinations, seizures, paranoia, disordered thinking and garbled speech. At
the extreme, catatonia and death are possible.

Florida’s Baker Act is a Danger to All

If you found out that someone was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital, you might assume the person must have some serious mental health problems and needs to be removed from society to get some help. This is not the typical case. In fact, every 1 ¼ minutes, someone is involuntarily committed so it is not logical that there are that many people out there that need to be committed, or “Baker Acted,” as it is known in the state of Florida. Instead of this law protecting individuals, it poses a dangerous threat to anyone.