Las Vegas Sun

November 14, 2009

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Letter: Mental health services are shortchanged

Thursday, Sept. 19, 2002 | 9:25 a.m.

Every day Metro's paddy wagon scoops downtown clean of bums and derelicts, making it safe for small-rollers.

The public never sees how many of these misdemeanor miscreants are mentally ill (a reasonable guess is one out of five).

Hauled to jail, shuffled through courts, the wretches get wrung cynically through a revolving door. None get treatment. Jail-based psychiatric treatment is worse than a joke, it is cruel and all-too-usual punishment. It creates jobs for police, jailers and judges, though.

It's estimated that almost $20 million is being spent now on jailing and repeated arrests -- a wasteful mental health charade. This is nearly half the state's budget for Southern Nevada Mental Health Services.

The people of Las Vegas are paying for mental health services -- through the nose.

They just don't realize that refusal to pay for mental health services at the state level costs them twice as much at the local level in property and sales taxes.

Whenever anyone sees the paddy wagon, he should think, "Your shortsighted, tightfisted state mental health policy at work."

JAMES RICHARD LUCAS

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