Madam, – The savage homicides of the two young Poles, Marius Szwajkos and Pawel Kalite (so expertly skewered with a screwdriver), may have stunned those who were associated with the victims or the subsequent judicial process.
Tragically, the scenario of the brutal double-murder, reported from the law courts last week, comes as no surprise to those contending with the present plague of drug misuse. Indeed, the case offers a textbook example of “limbic” violence, that drug- fueled derangement of the limbic system – the appetite and impulse- controlling network within the brain – which is so commonly responsible for the atrocities of war, as well as so many recent murders in this country.
Increasingly frequently, hospital staff have to deal with maniacal young drug-takers with temporary but truly superhuman strength. Last month, for instance, it yet again took numerous burly adults, handcuffs and huge quantities of medical sedatives to contain a slender but strong adolescent female in one of our emergency departments in Cork (courtesy of “head-shop highs”).
But the specific agents matter less than the fact that drug-taking leads inevitably to extraordinary and terrifying levels of violence. The scientific basis of this involves so-called “paradoxical excitation”: in other words, intoxicants like alcohol, cannabis and sleeping tablets (which we are told were consumed by the killer in this case) can have the opposite effect to the usual relaxation/sedation expected and can provoke extreme agitation and violence in a small but significant proportion of users.
Given the upward trajectory of violent crime in this country, so closely mirroring our appetite for drugs of all sorts, and given the continuing denial by so many apologists for cannabis and legal highs, etc, that their favourite chemicals have any role in violence (or indeed almost any medical “mishap”), it is becoming vital that basic drug screening (eg urine testing) be undertaken as part of the early investigation of all serious violent crime.
A beneficial side-effect would be a potential reduction in the number of unexpected deaths in police custody, as the use of drugs such as methadone and cocaine can be fatal but is often not apparent during the arrest of violent adults. Such epidemiological investigation in France has revealed that about 9 per cent of road fatalities are associated with the consumption of cannabis, for example.
Now, arguably, the greatest single threat to the safety and welfare of young people in this country is drug-related violence (including impulsive suicide). The apologists will reach for their usual “but alcohol causes far more problems than drugs” hypothesis, but this must be scientifically rebutted: drink and drugs are – like malaria and measles – distinctive but equally deadly in their effects. And a combination of the two is infinitely more dangerous than the constituent parts, as exemplified in the tale of the young man who admitted to being out of control before launching his terrifying and terrible attack on Marius and Pawel.
If one good result could emerge from this sad story, it would be a clear picture of the correlation between drug and alcohol consumption and violence.
Again, the apologists may add that “correlation is not causation”: but a very good start, like the all-too-evident remorse of the young killer in this case, once fully sober, would be at least to show clearly that cannabis, cocaine, mephedrone or synthetic cannabinols do not stop people becoming extremely violent.
In due course, as was eventually realised with alcohol, the causative relationship between drug-taking (of any sort) and hideous violence will become obvious, even to the most wishful of thinkers. And, truly at this stage, other “educational” efforts would seem to be a relatively frivolous and expensive waste of time – and lives. – Yours, etc,