OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM IS NO SUCH THING

Today's Waterloo Region Record carrys the following story titled "Justice system "punishes" mental illness". The John Howard Society has released a fourty page report titled "The Criminalization of Mental Illness". This report deatils the history of major changes in how society deals with people sufferring from mental illnesses. It is not a very flattering look at ourselves.

Hospitals and asylums used to be the preferred way of warehousing people with mental health issues. London Psychiatric was a well known institution at the time. Penetanguishene currently is. These days one needs only look carefully at who is incarcerated in Ontario. Seventy percent of prisoners have serious issues with substance abuse (drugs or alcohol). Fourty percent suffer from mental illness and Thirty-One percent suffer from both problems. Jails as well as the practice of solitary confinement are no way to help our mentally ill citizens. A reallocation of resources away from prisons and towards those with drug and mental health issues would be a win-win scenario.