After Loughner apparently gave up drugs and booze, "his theories got worse," Tierney says.

[Duer 157099]

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/01/jared-lee-loughner-friend-voicemail-phone-message?page=2

In October 2008, Tierney was living in Phoenix, and Loughner came to visit. They went to see a Mars Volta concert with friends, and Tierney was surprised when Loughner said he had quit partying "completely." Loughner, according to Tierney, said, "I'm going to lead a more healthy lifestyle, not smoke cigarettes or pot anymore, and I'm going to start working out." Tierney was happy for his friend: "I said, 'Dude, that's awesome.' And the next time I saw him he was 10 pounds lighter." Tierney never saw Loughner smoke marijuana again, and he was surprised at media reports that Loughner had been rejected from the military in 2009 for failing a drug test: "He was clean, clean. I saw him after that continuously. He would not do it."

After Loughner apparently gave up drugs and booze, "his theories got worse," Tierney says. "After he quit, he was just off the wall."

Sometimes people self-medicate with pot, and sometimes that might be a good thing.

[BridgeTheGap]

1. Sounds like he was self-medicating. This is usually what happens when someone has an underlying

condition and stops using.

[Cleita]

2. Apparently, the pot was helping his condition.

However, he should have been under the care of a doctor for his mental health problems, who would have monitored his med use including cannabis. The doctor I work for prescribes medical MJ for various mental conditions. It helps.

[Duer 157099]

4. That's honestly what I think too

People complain when mental health patients "go off their meds" but what will they say if his med was pot?

[atreides1]

7. There's a problem here

In order to get help for a mental condition you have to admit you have one...and unless you voluntarily see a doctor, the only other way is under a court order.

No evidence that he accepted that he had a problem, and his parents evidently didn't know or didn't care...so how would he have been under the care of a doctor?

[Cleita]

12. There are always signs. In a society where there is

universal access to medical care, he would have eventually ended up under the care of a doctor. He would have had to own up to his drug use. We get referrals from primary care doctors, but not everyone gets care because of our present system.

[sabrina 1]

13. He could have been taken to a hospital after he disrupted his

college class and frightened the other students repeatedly. The college chose not to ask that he be hospitalized. I know this because a relative of mine, who was enrolled in college and had, what we now know was an 'episode' where he apparently frightened the other students, ranting and acting 'weird' etc. The college called his parents to tell them they had requested that he be hospitalized and where they could go visit him. Two police officers escorted him to a hospital where he remained for six weeks, the longest he could stay. There he received medication and was 'stabilized'. We later learned that he suffered from paranoid schitzophrenia and is currently on medication and doing quite well.

These issues often show signs in childhood, but go unrecognized or are just seen as behavior problems. It is in the teens and early 20s when most people with these kinds of mental illnesses often lose control of their lives. At that point, all depends on who is around to see that they get help.

Jared Loughner showed many signs of mental illness and since the college did contact his parents, they obviously were aware of them. But like many other people, he never got help. Or maybe he refused it. Family members can sign someone in against their will if they think they are dangerous to themselves or others. That will get them treatment for up to a year when the case can be reviewed. But without intervention from family or close friends, Loughner is a typical example of what can happen with people with this kind of illness and the devastating effects it can have, not just on their families, coworkers, friends etc. but on society as a whole.

[spin]

8. We should legalize marijuana ...

it helps people chill out.

Perhaps this entire tragedy could have been avoided if pot was accepted and legal.

[Supersedeas]

15. shhhh....the Corporate Media wants to blame a political assassination attempt on the pot

[Edweird]

3. Another vote for 'self medicating'.

[slackmaster]

5. "Self-medicating" was the first thing that popped into my head. Sometimes it works.

:kick:

[CLANG]

18. It certainly works for me.... SOITENLEE!!

Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk

[Barack_America]

6. That actually makes me feel somewhat sorry for this kid.

If only he had gotten the help he clearly needed.

There's absolutely no excuse for killing another human being and he deserves to be punished to the fullest extent of the law, but it just seems so obvious that something was going very wrong with him. It almost seems like a dirty secret nobody wanted to accept.

If I ever observe this in someone I know, I pledge to do what I can to seek help for that person.

[MadHound]

9. Self medicating,

Happens all the time.

[Mike 03]

10. Clarence Thomas' ex-gf said the same thing about him. When he stopped drinking

he became extremely nasty and very obsessive-compulsive. It's interesting.

[seabeyond]

11. who is tierney? getting confused now. i thought the old friend was female and repug and hadnt

seen him in years. who is this person?

[Taverner]

14. And you folks laugh when I say pot isn't just benign, its beneficial

[Duer 157099]

16. Not me, I know

It may take years more, but eventually it will be accepted (I don't say 'proven' because it already has)

[jwirr]

17. I have seen pot work for mental health reasons in several persons

in my family. I just wish they would get it legalized.

[Odin2005]

19. Undiagnosed schizophrenics often self-medicate with drugs and alcohol.