Wire Story
Punks join policymakers to fight youth suicide
By Logan C. Adams -- Scripps Howard Foundation Wire, Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON - Lawmakers and musicians banded together as “policymakers and punk rockers” Wednesday to campaign for Congress to appropriate more money to fight youth suicide.
“Start with this: Every 100 minutes, a teen dies by suicide,” said Michael Faenza, president of the National Mental Health Association, which organized the event. “The U.S. Surgeon General calls suicide the most preventable form of death.”
Reps. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn.; Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I.; Tom Osborne, R-Neb.; and Grace Napolitano, D-Calif., joined Louis Posen, president of Hopeless Records, and members of the band Sugarcult, Tim Pagnotta and Marko 72, to ask Congress to continue funding the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act passed last summer.
The act authorized more than $55 million for youth suicide prevention programs through 2009, but money was appropriated for only the first year. The act was named for the son of Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., who committed suicide.
Posen is also the founder of the Take Action! Tour, which was to start its fifth year Wednesday in the capital with Sugarcult and several other bands. The tour raises awareness of suicide, depression and other mental issues among young people.
The band members talked about hearing from fans who faced mental issues and found something in Sugarcult’s music that helped them. Pagnotta said he has often gone through his messages and found several from kids who just like the songs or had a good experience.
“Then I’ll get an e-mail that just stands out, where it’s a kid telling me how they were going to kill themselves, and they got a record and they relate to the lyrics,” he said.
Kennedy said that three members of Congress, Smith, Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and Rep. Todd Tiarht, R-Kan., had lost children to suicide in the past 18 months. He added that insurance companies often cover very little treatment for mental health but offer substantial coverage for other illnesses. He said Congress should guarantee insurance parity for Americans of all ages.
“You can have diabetes, or any number of illnesses, and get insurance coverage,” Kennedy said, “but If you have bipolar disorder, like I do … you have no luck in getting your coverage in your health plan because insurance companies in this day and age are still allowed to discriminate.”
Kennedy said that twice as many people die from suicide than homicide each year.
The bands will perform in 35 cities through March. The list is available at http://www.takeactiontour.com
By Logan C. Adams -- Scripps Howard Foundation Wire, Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON - Lawmakers and musicians banded together as “policymakers and punk rockers” Wednesday to campaign for Congress to appropriate more money to fight youth suicide.
“Start with this: Every 100 minutes, a teen dies by suicide,” said Michael Faenza, president of the National Mental Health Association, which organized the event. “The U.S. Surgeon General calls suicide the most preventable form of death.”
Reps. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn.; Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I.; Tom Osborne, R-Neb.; and Grace Napolitano, D-Calif., joined Louis Posen, president of Hopeless Records, and members of the band Sugarcult, Tim Pagnotta and Marko 72, to ask Congress to continue funding the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act passed last summer.
The act authorized more than $55 million for youth suicide prevention programs through 2009, but money was appropriated for only the first year. The act was named for the son of Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., who committed suicide.
Posen is also the founder of the Take Action! Tour, which was to start its fifth year Wednesday in the capital with Sugarcult and several other bands. The tour raises awareness of suicide, depression and other mental issues among young people.
The band members talked about hearing from fans who faced mental issues and found something in Sugarcult’s music that helped them. Pagnotta said he has often gone through his messages and found several from kids who just like the songs or had a good experience.
“Then I’ll get an e-mail that just stands out, where it’s a kid telling me how they were going to kill themselves, and they got a record and they relate to the lyrics,” he said.
Kennedy said that three members of Congress, Smith, Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and Rep. Todd Tiarht, R-Kan., had lost children to suicide in the past 18 months. He added that insurance companies often cover very little treatment for mental health but offer substantial coverage for other illnesses. He said Congress should guarantee insurance parity for Americans of all ages.
“You can have diabetes, or any number of illnesses, and get insurance coverage,” Kennedy said, “but If you have bipolar disorder, like I do … you have no luck in getting your coverage in your health plan because insurance companies in this day and age are still allowed to discriminate.”
Kennedy said that twice as many people die from suicide than homicide each year.
The bands will perform in 35 cities through March. The list is available at http://www.takeactiontour.com
posted by Logan C. Adams at 2/03/2005 05:07:00 PM
1 Comments:
I found out today that this story made it into Today's Mercury.
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