Celebrities, fellow Scientologists protest psychiatric drugs

Associated Press, May 15, 1999

WASHINGTON -- About 1,000 protesters, dressed in black and many carrying black balloons, picketed a convention of psychiatrists Saturday to demand they stop prescribing mind-altering medications to young people.

Such medicine leads to youth violence, said three protest leaders, actresses Kirstie Alley and Juliette Lewis and singer Lisa Marie Presley.

"They're making drug addicts out of our children," said Alley, best known for her roles on the TV shows "Cheers" and "Veronica's Closet." "It's barbaric, and it's being promoted by psychiatrists."

The demonstration, organized by the Church of Scientology's Citizens Commission on Human Rights, targeted the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in downtown Washington. As they marched around the Washington Convention Center, the demonstrators chanted: "Don't drug our kids. Don't shock our kids. Just leave our kids alone."

All three of the celebrity demonstrators are Scientologists. The church's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, strongly opposed psychiatry.

To see more documents/articles regarding this group/organization/subject click here.