A new study has looked into how often police have given sedatives to people who are being held over the last fifteen years. A joint investigation by the Associated Press, FRONTLINE, and Howard’s Centers for Investigative Journalism found that almost 100 people died after being given drugs to make them sleepy.
In other words, about 10% of the 1,000 deaths that were found during the study were caused by police actions that shouldn’t have been fatal.
People who like the sedatives say that they help treat manic episodes and drug-related behavior. This method has been used thousands of times to protect people on the front lines.
Not so, say those who are against sedation; it should be illegal or at least very restricted. Some people have said that the drugs given to prisoners without their permission could be very harmful to them.
A lot of different places across the country, like parking lots, homes, and other places, gave the sedative shots. Officials in the medical field say that sedatives are usually safe when looking into deaths, but it’s hard to know what effects they had on the people who died. But now it might be thought that they have a bigger effect than was first thought.
A study of the people who passed found that around half of them were black. A lot of people have said that race stereotypes and views have affected the choice of who needs to be sedated and who doesn’t.
This means that people who are likely to hurt themselves or someone else are the only ones who can get drugs. This doesn’t always happen, which can be a problem if a sedative is given to someone who has been using drugs or is physically distressed.
