Unintended Consequences

Tuesday 28 May 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

Gee. How could there be unintended consequences with such well thought-out law?

”There are some important and under-discussed ethical issues in depriving people of their rights,” he said. ”But somehow, when you are a patient, your rights to do as you please are suddenly suspended – even if you are not hurting other people.”

As a sufferer of schizophrenia, Coleman had been in and out of Liverpool Hospital’s mental health unit for six years. Previously, he and other patients were able to smoke, under supervision, in a small, open-air courtyard next to the ward.

But under amendments passed by NSW Parliament last year, psychiatric patients across NSW are now confronted with a ”tobacco replacement program”, which includes nicotine patches, educational classes and, in rare cases, leave passes off-site.

Having presented himself to Liverpool Hospital in February, Coleman, 25, had remained in the mental health unit as an involuntary patient until March 30, when he was found dead at the nearby railway station after asking if he could leave the grounds for a cigarette.

”The system in place has failed,” Coleman’s father, Mark, said. ”The anti-smoking laws, as they stand, are too rigid.

I just don’t understand how thing s could have gone wrong. Telling mentally ill people who have been hospitalized that not only must they deal with whatever affliction for which they have been institutionalized, but they must also quit smoking is a bad idea? Who knew?

2013-05-28  »  madlibertarianguy