Jared Lee Loughner: did political rhetoric or alcoholic egomania make him kill? Our bet’s on addiction.
Arizona Shooter Jared Lee Loughner: Angry Political Rhetoric—or Alcoholism?
Various reasons have been cited for the attempted murder of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the murder of six other innocents and the serious injury of over a dozen more. The 22-year-old shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, has been described as a socialist, a right-winger and a left-winger. Bloggers and radio talk show hosts are accused of having angered Loughner. Some say such bloodshed was only a matter of “when” given these “hateful” times. The blame game is rampant. These comments disregard the fact that most “angry” people, right-wingers, left-wingers and even socialists and other statists don’t go out and kill people. Such comments ignore the evidence that 99.999% of those writing and reading blogs, even radical ones, don’t commit bloodshed and that few people who listen to talk radio ever become violent.
Not even most alcohol and other-drug addicts commit mayhem and murder. However, there is a plethora of evidence that most murders and mayhem are committed by those addicted to psychotropic drugs. And, as is so often true, there were plenty of clues to Loughner’s almost-certain psychotropic drug addiction long before this ultimate tragedy occurred. He was described as “odd,” “scary,” “rambling,” “strange” and “disruptive” in class. As explained in Drunks, Drugs & Debits: How to Recognize Addicts and Avoid Financial Abuse, a probability of alcoholism bordering on 80% can be ascribed based on these behaviors alone. Classmates thought he acted “wildly inappropriate” and felt he was “troubled.” He had five recorded run-ins with campus police over “classroom and library disruptions.” Disciplinary action had been taken against him at college. His web page posts are clearly rambling and incoherent and include such mind-blowing convoluted assertions as, “The government is implying mind control and brainwash on the people by controlling grammar.” Perhaps among the observations that are most telling and indicative of a classic Jekyll and Hyde transformation, a long-time friend and former classmate said there was a “mysterious, significant change in him a year before the shooting….He was a good person that just somehow changed so much. I don’t know what the hell happened to him.”
Some think Loughner must be schizophrenic, while Puma County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik figures “he has mental issues.” While it’s possible that’s all there is, the odds of non-addiction are less than 20%. Further evidence all but proves addictive use of drugs: he was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia in 2007 and had unknown charges brought against him in October 2008, which were dropped a couple of months later. Reports say he “has had minor run-ins with the police for drugs-related offenses”—and a person with drug-related offenses likely used hundreds of times between contacts with law enforcers. He was described as a pothead by former classmate, Caitie Parker, who also claims he “got alcohol poisoning” in 2006. Military officials disclosed he was rejected due to “issues related to his history of drug use” and may have actually failed a drug test. Based on these reports, we can ascribe a nearly 100% likelihood of alcohol and other-drug addiction.
But addiction to most drugs wouldn’t result in the combination of behaviors observed. Whenever we see extraordinarily bizarre and destructive behaviors, methamphetamine addiction must be suspected. I often used to say, “If there’s murder, there’s almost always an addict. However, not every murderer is one; for example, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh might be an exception.” Years later I learned that one of his conspirators, “heavy drug user” Michael Fortier, introduced McVeigh to methamphetamine, which they used often. A recent study found that over 40% of incoming prisoners in the Midwest have meth in their system. Methamphetamine has reportedly long plagued the Pima County, Arizona area, where the percentage could easily be greater. The evidence leaves little doubt that Jared Lee Loughner’s delusional thinking and consequential rampage are rooted in psychotropic drug addiction. The behaviors strongly suggest his main drug of choice, which seems to create a combination of greater delusions and destructive behaviors than others, was methamphetamine. On the other hand, the drug or combination of drugs used doesn’t matter so much as the fact that he was almost certainly an addict, which led to grotesque actions having nothing to do with whatever beliefs he may have held.