Subject: Cruise Gets Hyper About Ritalin

From http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,90336,00.html

Cruise Gets Hyper About Ritalin
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
By Roger Friedman

I see that Tom Cruise has picked up the argument advanced by Scientology against psychiatry in general and psychotropic drugs in particular. He now joins all his Scientology celeb friends in this misguided and potentially destructive cause.

Cruise visited Washington last week, according to published reports, and lobbied Congress to stop the use of Ritalin and other drugs for kids with ADHD. Scientology is waging a war against these drugs and all prescriptive medicines used for mental health including the Zoloft/Paxil family, which has helped so many people.

Why? Scientology would prefer that alienated, frustrated, depressed folk turn to them for help. But like me I'm sure you've known your share of bright-seeming children who were unable to do their schoolwork until they were given the right drugs. There is no shame in having ADHD or any other learning disability. The shame is in being so blinded by one's fierce devotion to a group that you would let a child suffer rather than get him the proper treatment.

Maybe Tom, Kirstie Alley, John Travolta, Juliette Lewis and all the other celeb Scientologists should be worrying about the environment or freedom of speech. Leave the medical work to real doctors, please.