Mental health and drug abuse are issues that typically don’t rise to the top in presidential campaigns. But 2016 is different in so many ways, including the issues being discussed. The approaches to these increasingly visible subjects by Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump are radically different, as you might expect. Clinton has taken a deliberate approach, issuing position papers and fact sheets and outlining her ideas in campaign speeches. Trump has few documents outlining his position on any issue, including mental health and drug abuse. Rather, his positions are expressed in speeches, media interviews and social media.
Mental health
About 40 million people, including 17 million children, in the United States have some form of mental illness, including 14 million with chronic and persistent mental illness, such as
schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Clinton’s comprehensive proposal, rolled out Aug. 29, calls for putting mental health care on a level playing field with physical health care. The two systems have never been on par and sometimes
are at odds.
Among other things, Clinton proposes spending $5 billion to fund mental and physical health at community health centers.
“The next generation must grow up knowing that mental health is a key component of overall health and there is no shame, stigma or barriers to seeking out care,” she said in her
proposal.
Clinton also advocates for expanding early intervention in mental illness; initiating a national suicide prevention strategy; adding training for police who deal with people with mental health
issues; offering mental health care for nonviolent offenders; and spending more on brain research.
Some of Trump’s comments revealing his stance on mental health came in speeches and interviews related to mass shootings and gun control. He is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
“All of the tragic mass murders that occurred in the past several years have something in common — there were red flags that were ignored,” Trump said in a TV appearance this year. “We can’t allow that to continue. We need to expand treatment programs, because most people with mental health problems aren’t violent. They just need help.”
Trump’s campaign offered this comment on the mass shootings issue in response to the Dispatch Voters Guide.
“At the root of most of the recent mass shootings that are not terrorism related is a person who is mentally ill who slipped through the treatment cracks. We must take a hard look at fundamentally
overhauling our mental healthcare delivery systems in this country.
“Mental health reforms will not only help curtail mass shootings but will also have direct impact on criminal justice reform. To be clear, the Second Amendment is sacrosanct.”
Trump recently stirred up concern among some veterans with remarks he made about combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of folks in this room have seen many times over, and you’re strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can’t handle it,” he said.
“And the whole mental health issue is going to be a very important issue when I take over, and the VA is going to be fixed in so many ways, but that’s gonna be one of the ways we’re gonna
help.”
Trump surrogates later denied that he was suggesting that veterans with PTSD are weak.
Clinton responded that Trump’s comments “are not just ignorant. They’re harmful because they give voice to the stigma that has led generations of veterans to hide their struggles instead of
getting lifesaving help.
“Every American dealing with mental health challenges deserves compassion, whether they’ve ever served in uniform or not,” Clinton said.
Drug abuse
National statistics show that while about 23 million people have substance abuse problems, only 10 percent get treatment.
Trump has spoken often about the drug problem. His solution: Build a wall.
In December, Trump was quoted in The Washington Post as saying, “Drugs are pouring in. I’m going to create borders. No drugs are coming in. We’re going to build a wall, you know what I’m talking about. … They’ll stop coming to this country. And the people who are in trouble, the people that are addicted, we’re going to help them.
“We’re going to try and make them better, and will make them better.”
Trump discussed the issue during an Aug. 1 town hall at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
The exchange can be seen online at https://youtu.be/RYzOHQJ7lsg. He was asked, “Heroin is an epidemic here in Ohio. Will you please cut off the source?”
“If I win, I’m going to stop heroin from coming into this country. I’m going to get the government of Mexico and other governments to stop it,” he said. “We get the drugs, they get the
money. Big vans coming across, drugs coming in, money going out. Those days are over, folks.”
Trump talked sympathetically about people struggling with drug problems.
“It’s very hard to get out of that addiction, of heroin. We’re gonna work with them, we’re gonna spend the money, we’re gonna get that habit broken.”
Clinton has proposed a $10 billion initiative to combat America’s deadly epidemic of drug and alcohol addiction.
Her proposal would start prevention programs for adolescents; ensure “every person suffering from drug or alcohol addiction can obtain the comprehensive, ongoing treatment he or she needs, and stay in recovery”; provide first responders with naloxone, a drug that reverses overdoses; require physicians to consult a prescription drug monitoring program before prescribing controlled
medications; and prioritize rehabilitation and treatment over prison for low-level, nonviolent drug offenses.
Clinton and Trump have staked out positions on marijuana that evolved over time.
In 1990, Trump said drugs should be legalized “to win that war. You have to take the profit away from these drug czars.”
More recently, he said at a rally in Reno that he supports making medical marijuana available to people with illness, but that it should be left up to the states to legalize marijuana for wider use.
Clinton has been cautiously supportive of medical marijuana legalization, saying that the states where it is now legal (including Ohio) should serve as the “laboratories of democracy” to see how
it works.
She advocated moving marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II designation, a change that would make it easier to conduct scientific research while at the same time taking legal pressure
off cannabis entrepreneurs. ajohnson@dispatch.com
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