Vol. 10, No. 3, 2004 Page 6
"During my career as a neurologist which has often brought me out of the hospital and into contact with death- row inmates and juvenile offenders I have searched for answers to aggressive behavior.
Consider a 26-year-old death-row inmate I once met. He was a seemingly nice guy who suffered immensely from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia, which are two disorders common among the aggressive population.... He [never received treatment and] dropped out of school in 11th grade and, due in large part to his inability to hold a job because of his learning disabilities, he got involved in drug dealing. During a robbery, he impulsively killed someone. To me, this is tragic: a man whose boyhood medical problems both of which are treatable were ignored, resulting in destructive consequences.
[Such] stories of shattered lives for inmates, victims and society-at-large present the pressing need to forge ahead with neurological research that may shed light on root biological causes of violence and may lead to new remedies for the behavior."
Pamela Blake, M.D., in "Trials and Treatment," Washington Times, July 2, 2004