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On chemical castration
by Gnat
On first glance castration seems like a good idea for sex offenders. The second time an adult is convicted of a felony sex crime against a child, he is forced to take medications that kill sexual desire.
I agree with this principal, but the state laws are written by congress people who have no knowledge of the subject. Therefore, the laws on the books regarding chemical castration allow the state to force people to take massive doses of Depo-Provera, SSRIs or MPA (a hormone supplement used in the 1950s for women) were conceived of and passed by a group of people where the majority have no medical training. Of the 27 states that are considering, have passed or almost passed legislation on chemical castration only five require a medical evaluation before requiring a doctor to prescribe the chemicals. Of those five, only one state requires the judge stop castration if a doctor recommends against it.
The FDA has not approved any of the drugs currently used for chemical castration. So this gives judges the power to say to an imprisoned offender “take this drug or stay in jail. It doesn’t matter that your doctor thinks it’s a bad idea and we have no idea what the long terms effects are. You must take high doses drugs or stay in jail. It does not matter that a doctor says the drugs are bad for you and they may not work. It does not matter the FDA has not approved these mega doses. If you do not take them, you stay in jail.”
It is not a fair bargain for the offender. While I feel that repeat sex offenders should have some option for castration, an unresearched level of drugs prescribed by a judge ignoring or not consulting a doctor is not the solution.
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