If the problem is lack of vitamins....the question has to be asked......what the hell are they being fed ?

"Crime in this country has gone up inexorably and what has changed in recent years apart from diet? It can't be due to genetics. We can talk about the breakdown in family life until we are blue in the face, but all the psychiatric and social care provided has not stopped the rate of rising crime." - PROF JOHN STEIN, OXFORD

Where has he disproved the 'breakdown in family life' cause? Instead of trying to look at the real causes, Professor Stein is dragging the issue down the junk science route.

Psychiatric care has been replaced with care in the community - which often ends up in no care at all. Err and what is this 'social care' he speaks of?

Of course, the first stage will be this trial in which there is probably no control group (i don't see a proposal of a placebo group here). This will provide invalid positive results which will convince dimwitted Executive ministers, who don't have a science degree between them, to invest in food supplements.

I am sick and tired of pseudoscience, junk science and bad science being used as the basis for health policy.

Thanks goodness that the article finishes in a statement of common sense: "I think it is appalling. A few supplements will not help prisoners appreciate food, learn about budgeting for meals or cooking. It is a gross waste of public money. If you give people decent food it affects their behaviour. You cannot solve the problem with a pill."

The suggestion that vitamin A helps your eyesight is actually an elaborate con. During the war, the British invented radar and installed it on fighter aircraft so that pilots could "see" at night. To confuse the enemy, they put it about that they were feeding the pilots lots of carrots to improve their eyesight.
The first casualty of war is the truth.
Vitamin A does boost the immne system though.

How about cyanide pills.. That would empty the prisons pretty quickly and completely eradicate re-offending.

Comment@6 Famous 15, hi mate, the trouble with most vitamin C tablets is the comedians put aspartame and the likes in with it.........which damages the brain.
Here is a one minute trailer to a documentary called Sweet Misery......for those with the attention span of a goldfish :) http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=178447157634062...

and here is a ten munite vid on the subject http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-90638994811249...

Forgive my spelling of Minute :)

Add it to the water in our reservoirs and you might be able to go out on a Friday night and no get your heid kicked in.

Hi Scott

I think the provider of these vitamins will probably turn out to be a donor to New Labour !

Anyway .. it makes a change from bent lawyers supplying prisoners with drugs instead .. http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=380372006

... but money could be better spent I think ...

Comment@12 Peter, hi mate...agreed, nice link by the way :)

I really will have to get out more and maybe buy a paper copy of the Scotsman and perhaps another newspaper for comparison. There are some nights when I read the 'stories' and think I am in a dream world. I begin to wonder if someone has hacked into the Scotsman site and replaced the news with weird stories produced from their fevered brain. Usually, by morning, plenty posters with common sense have made sensible comments and this reassures me.

When I read the headline here I assumed that it was bromide or some type of seditive that was being suggested and that there would be an outcry from the civil rights people. But Vitamins!!! If this theory were correct then surely prisoners with their three square meals a day, and unable to pop over the fence, like school children do to buy junk food, should be a model of good health and behaviour. What about old people, who cannot afford meals on wheels (or vitamin supplements) or those in care homes where nobody cares enough to feed those who need help. Are these elderly folk all turning aggresive and violent? If someone has vitamins to spare (and it is proved that they are safe to take) then give them to children before they develop anti social tendencies. How about bringing back free milk and orange juice in schools?

BTW, this Prof. Stein is the brother of the TV chef Rick Stein.

Off topic, but interesting anyway.

I agree with Sheena. Also, having lived in various third world countries at different times, I did not notice poor people on minimal, or even near starvation diets developing aggressive or violent tendencies.

Perhaps scientists should be looking at the effect of additives, particularly the E number variety, being added to processed food, to see if it is that which causes or contributes to aggressive behaviour.

Other than that, this looks very much like more junk science; and a waste of taxpayers money.

What is really being said here? is the overcrowded prisons and poor services for rehabilitation producing a violent element within the prisons. Are we talking about violent prisoners or prisoners becoming violent within a sick prison environment?? I would say it is unlikely that vitamins will have an effect on a hardened violent criminal. Institutions have already proved that in some cases there is a violent gene. Although many people from severely deprived childhoods become violent criminals, most do not. There are many extremely violent upwardly mobile people who use their psychopathic tendencies to create misery in the work place, as they claw their way up the ladder. These people unfortunately, are usually well nourished. We perhaps should invent a new drug-- Soma.

The addition of vitamins and supplements to what apparently is vile swill being served to prisoners SOUNDS like a good idea.

Since the diet of the majority of prisoners before they enter the penal system is atrocious fast-food washed down with plenty of beer one can only hope that this experiment will work or that the food served in jails and prisons improves. Maybe prisoners can get to think straight after abusing their bodies with substandard, under-vitaminised, nutrient-depleted foodstuffs - mainly fast-food, fish and chips from chippies, and too much beer and other intoxicating liquids.

Almost forgot the illicit drugs that are swallowed to allow the beer to go down easier.

Many prisoners are eating properly for the first time in their lives when they go into prison, despite the weekly budget for their food being only about £11.60. They also rate the food surprisingly highly!

But amongst the population of youngsters at Polmont in particular, the effects of lifelong dietary abuse - what else can one call it - are not yet irreversible.

So a "double-blind" trial would be useful. It has demonstrated in England that behavior in the group thus "supplemented" improved dramatically along with concentration and thus an ability to learn.

It also pays for itself by contributing to a reduction in re-conviction rates. As it costs £36,000 a year to keep the convicts in gaol ... .. .

Keep them moving. Good healthy excercise building railways, clearing rubbish, moving mountains. Excercise and good food is the secret. Get rid of all the nastier attitudes in their minds by good honest sweat. Plus give them a vitamin pill if you think it will do any good.

#1 Why dont you read paragraph nine of the "story"? "Inmates at three prisons - including one in Scotland - will receive either nutritional supplements or dummy pills".

Perhaps if they really want to make a difference they should save themselves a pot of money and just insist that the makers of Buckfast include these supplements in their receipe.

Are we in danger breeding a new strain of super criminals?

of breeding
not serious

Experiment with New Aids Drugs on Murderers.

Why not introduce a ROPE and a TRAP door...That will definately sort it out!!!

After all, they are all low life no gooders who will forever be a burden on society..So no big loss!

Worth trying, I would say; but commenters are surely correct that it isn't likely to be the prison diet that is causing problems so much as their diet on the outside. So let's support the SSP and others in their call for free, high quality school meals.

I've always believed that you should feed the dangerous criminals high fat foods. That, and all the cigs they can smoke. This way, when released early, it's physically more difficult to repeat the crimes that got them incarcerated in the first place;-)

Do we really want healthy, fit criminals???

I'm all for doping them into zombies ..... permanently!

Actually, there have been several trials, particularly with teens, that proved poor diet can cause aggressive behaviour and also reduce mental ability.
Third world countries may have a lack of food, but here in the west we have too much junk (processed) convenience foods full of additives that can have a devestating effect on the body and brain.
The breakdown of the family and more mothers working means that fewer are buying and cooking fresh foods without the additives because of lack of time and now, a generation that don't know how to cook fresh food.

Generally they feed prisoners heavy stodgy foods to slow them down energy wise and therefore making them slightly more placid.

To feed them a balanced diet would make them more alert. Is that a good thing?

A case of truth being stranger than fiction? Edward de Bono, called in by the Foreign Office to bring his great intellect to the Arab-Israeli conflict, came up with a straightforward solution - Marmite. The theory is a lack of zinc makes men irritable and belligerent. You get zinc in yeast, which is fine for your average, well nourished westerner, but not in the Middle East where the bread is unleavened. Therefore Marmite is the cure to world peace.

Why does everybody assume that criminals are poverty stricken and living on chips. Some of the most notorious violent criminals have been financially successful and even professional. What about the mass murderer doctor.

Why is all this money being spent on these numpties who care about nobody when there are children out there suffering all sorts of horrible cancers, etc and have to wait weeks/months to be seen??

Forget the prisoners - look after the future generation instead - they're much more important.

#33. So it's not just comfort food.

"C'mon Fletch, Godper. Time to take your sedativ.... I mean vitamins."

"You 'ave them Mr Mackay. You need them more than we do."

Crime has gone up because people are more aware and report more, the Police have their hands tied so cannot really stop crime before it starts, we are not allowed to punish (hit) our kids at home or in school so they get out of control etc etc etc. Proper eating habits, I don't think so

http://platosway.blogspot.com

I think the diet of Scots as a whole is shocking. Our kids are allowed to eat rubbish at school, we feed prisoners rubbish and we let people sell rubbish to anyone who wants rubbish.

It's nothing to do with cost or convienence either, take germany for example. You get all kinds fast food in the streets but it's all good, fresh produce.

It's time to take action across the board to stop the deep fried / farmfoods microwave burger culture!

I am a pensioner and a law abiding citizen for 67 years but I find that buying vitamins over the counter a wee bit expensive.This world of ours has turned on its head with methadone fixes on the NHS for over 2500 heroin junkies and I've been waiting over a year for a hip operation !

This is getting beyond the joke!! Our prisons are overcrowded and the prisoners are treated like holiday makers in a hotel!! And now they are giving them vitimins!!! What is this country coming to....? Prisons should be a horrible place so that people who are thinking about committing a crime will think twice!!

Something stronger should be given to eradicate the whole lot of them!!

I sincerely believe that something stronger is required. There is a new type of drug which calms people down, which don't have serious side effects.

http://www.drkaslow.com/html/pyroluria.html

or search on google for PYROLURIA.

p

Give them E...that'll make them love each other.

#29 2DOGS IN D.C.

I cannot believe you are serious. This is a joke, I hope.

First, there is the dangerous and fatally serious side-effects of second-hand smoke to staff and prisoners.

Second, many overweight people can run pretty quickly and their body's metabolism overcomes any lethargy that the extra poundage may entail.

I do not think the purpose of the Scottish penal system is to turn prisoners into obese nicotine addicts. One of its main objectives is rehabilitation and the introduction of this vitamin regime may just be the answer.

Those is priston benefit from exercises, vitamins, Tv, Radio, medical health, exercises etc. Would someone please tell me how to get in for life.

We can learn a lot from veterinary practices.
When my cat rejected her kittens my vet gave her vitamins and she became a model mother.
When my young daughter started throwing tantrums I gave her vitamins and she returned to being a sweet happy child.
There is a substitute for a healthy balanced diet although obviously a good diet is better but sometimes one needs a big boost, such as when one has drunk too much or taken drugs or been ill or stressed which a normal healthy diet would take too long to supply.
Good question scottweb, #1, but prison is a very stressful place and they must need more than a balanced diet to make them feel better although the diet may indeed be really bad as well.

Prison must be about rehabilitation for those we can be rehabilitated.

Of course they should have reasonable food.

Any fool knows if you treat people like children they will act like children.

#38 - Aileen - hitting kids is lazy parenting. Too many parents are too busy with their own lives, be it working or just plain lazy to be a proper role model to their kids.

AD

Sage words my friend. Kids are for life and thusly need that investment from the parents.

Like corn flakes when it was discovered a number of years ago that there was more nutrients in the cardboard container than in the flakes the food company took the initiative to add vitamins. For breakfast many people take flakes with nutrient reduced milk which also raises blood sugar levels the we wonder why we suffer. If so many vitamins are added by food companies to processed foods could the populace be suffering from say a vitamin overload?

The good professor is merely articulating the growing concern those days about our diet and especially since Dr Robert Atkins proved the benefits of low carbs in the diet.

If one goes back to the 30/40s era and reads the study on cat's diet by Dr Pottenger (study called 'Pottenger's Cats') and be certain to read his own personal notes only and the implications that arise from this then it will be seen why people have so many health and social problems.

Then there's the impact of tv which informs the malajusted that it is okay to be antisocial. Take out programmes containing violence, sex, murder, guns, crazy youngsters doing stupid things, and what's left; nothing!

Why, as an example, not look at prisons where there is little or no violence and ask the question why and don't accept the lame excuse of classification. Why too do we read of governors of prisons where there is riots being promoted; should we be giving them extra vitamins?

Too many imponderables but the western diet has to be higly suspect and sounds a good starting point after which we can sack psychiatrists, social workers, and GPs!.

#50 Dave - there was an article yesterday on smacking ...

http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=102912007

if you're interested

(you'll find my comment at #17)

:o)

Nice! Good comment. Smacking is a last resort. Thankfully in our house, there mere indication of a warm bottom is enough and I thankfully don't have to follow through. And before you all state "what, verbal abuse, threats of violence", no, merely a raised eyebrow or "the look" from mum is enough.

I work in the medical industry, this is the biggest load of waffle yet. There is absolutley no correlation between bad diet and violent behavior. If there was,
can you just imagine strolling down any where in Scotland, it would be like "Escape from New York"
The scottish public don't care how violent they are inside, after all, it's only fellow scum they are violating. How does the mad prof propose to keep these violent animals on vitamins once they have been released back into the wild?

Frankly this stinks of Labour corruption, who will be providing these drugs ? who are they related to or are they labour donors?I'm off now to show this to my German counterparts. Listen carefully and you can here them laughing from scotland.

New Aids Drugs on you eric 25

Changing the subject anyone watching the tennis over there

You will be sorry

I find the professor's lack of lateral thinking quite remarkable.

He seems to concluding that behaviour is changed due to a lack of something in our food. In fact, I would argue that there is already positive evidence to suggest that poorer behaviour is caused by something which has actually been added to our food in increasing amounts.
Calcium propionate (CP).
This has never been fully clinically tested in the past because because our bodies produce the precursor for this in small amounts anyway.
CP is added to many bakery products in quite large amounts (it is cheap). It allows the packing plants to pack the products while they are still warm without the risk of mould forming. Years ago, if you left a loaf for a couple of days it would go mouldy. Now they often seem to last forever!
The Australians seem to have been quickest to pick up on this. They have conducted studies which concluded that groups of children who consumed products containing CP developed behavioural problems not matched by control groups. There have been many anecdotal accounts of children's behaviour dramatically improving after starting a Calcium Propionate free diet.
In fact, Australia's two largest bread producers have voluntarily removed CP from all their products.
CP also affects adults in a couple of ways. I myself suffer an acute reaction if I ever eat any CP containing products.
Why is nothing being done about it here? Good question. I have been to a number of specialists and explained the reaction I was having to CP. It seems thay are incapable of typing something into Google and finding out about it!
That's how I find out about the Australian discoveries. I told my specialist about this but I could see his eyes glazing over as I spoke...

Another ground-breaking article. I do hope our SNP masters will allow the sale of 'The Independent', and [hard to say this, but here goes] 'The Daily Telegraph'. And permit me to continue to access on line 'The New York Times', 'The Washington Post', and 'The South China Morning Post' [the latter solely because it reminds me of those black and white films (Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet et al]. To think I would be restricted to 'The Scotsman' is unbearable.

WeeBerty

Isn't the point is that the government want to feed the prisoners vitamins to alter their behaviour to make them easier to deal with - not make them better people....

Complete and utter nonsense. One thing causes the majority of crime: drug addiction. If they really want to cut crime then they should legalise drugs so it can be strictly controlled. Quality and price can be dictated by government including age restrictions. The tax garnered from this legalisation should be pumped into increased treatment centres for those who DO want to quit drugs. At the same time, increase the penalties for those who sell drugs without a license ie those selling to under 16's.

Doing these things will break the link between drugs and crime and will eventually reduce the number of people in prison saving even more money and therefore not needing silly gimmicks of vitamins just to attempt to keep over-crowded unruly prisoners under control.

#22 care4

I am off to take some vitamins.

The study will be important .There are other causes of bad behavior. One will study them ,too, I should think. Maybe it depends on the individual. I am open-minded on this subject. Causes influence our wills. We can change them to an extent.Medecine and therapy have changed the causes of my personality for the better.Punishment is a cause. And it must be humane to be effective . Hey, Mary JO.

#54 - Dave - couldn't agree with you more.

I'm reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally good at "the look" by the way!!!!

:oD

VITAMINS!!!are you all cracking up or something.

Two links about Calcium Propionate:

http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/factsheets/Fact282...

http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/factsheets/Factsaf...

It'll cost you nothing to try avoiding this stuff for a while...

Sorry to be a pain, but this may help someone.

http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/features/breadrese...

Must be a female thing AD! ;-)

Cor! Poverty, diet and crime are related? What will they think of next?

Don't you just love the owning and controlling class' view of things? Poor people have a much reduced life expectancy and poorer health but, hey, who cares? Nothing (little) done in 50 years to improve that but, by God, when the poor start to react in terms of commiting 'crime' then it's a problems that needs to be resolved!

Now, any rational person would say, "What we need to do is reduce the level of comparative poverty by spreading the wealth and raising the safety net." What do these clowns think? Let's give them vitamins!

Jesus, it makes me angry. Not one mention of how we can address the issue of reducing poverty. No, that's off the menu of possible solutions becasue it would mean the rich would have less.

Solve the problem not the symptom.

I love the way all Scott's knowledge is sourced from google video!
"I read it on the internet so it must be true..."

Just one fly in this ointment, if vitamins are the cause of the problem then why is Buckfast so bad?
Isn't it supposed to have added vitamins and goodies in it?

Comment@77 Actually its not dude, google video is a useful tool ............good luck in developing a name tag :)

By the way this one will blow your mind clean out the water.....5 minutes of deprogramming....its called OPEN YOUR MIND :) http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-12437069416413...

#76
Perhaps poor people have shorter life expectancy because they are more likely to smoke, take less exercise, and CHOOSE unheakthy food. here's a suggestion:
1. Stop smoking.
2. With the money saved from not smoking WALK (free exercise) to a supermarket (and they are close enough) and then
3. Buy fuit and vegetables.
Perhaps we should give the poor the dignity of being responsible for their health choices. That would make them equal. People like you want to make them less than you, who's the class bigot?

Vitamins as a cure/treatment for psychopathy?

Someone's been at the two day old Scotch again!

Re: Finking (Thinking?)

Jesus' solution to the problem of poverty is that Christians are to fix it. Try a dose of liberation theology on yourself and then on your povertry-stricken neighbours and see how much better you feel.

There was a school of thought some years ago that subscribed to the errant notion that schizophrenia was the result of vitamin deficiency.

There was a school of thought some years ago that insisted the world was flat.

Put these thee notions together and you have a set of imbecile triplets.

Ach, y fie!

#82
You don't half get around!

B Complex

#1. www.scottwebb.co.uk : The theroy is is that some people need more than the average recommendation (It's allready knowen that some people require less abd theres recomendations for them).

If your ill or ingered your body naturaly needs more vits and minerals.

There lots of reshearch papper that sucgest that people with learning and behoural problems are deffient in Vitamins and minerals.

Uping there consumption causesX% to improve there behaviour.

Though in these sorts of pappers its always nice to have a wee read at the results of the control group, the amount of people who improve and they've been given a placebo supliment X % show improvements. Which make you wonder are people given the pills told this will improve your concentration and your bevauor.

Bring back the Lash,Chain Gangs,Hard Labour,the Tred Mill, Better Food and Visitations only for Good behavior and No Prisnors rights they forfiet that on comitting a crime.
Once prison is understood to be a Very Hard and Unpleasent Punshment sentence and not a Social "get away" place only then might persons thinking to commit a crime begin to think twice. Prison today is not a deterrant its worn as a badge of honour and respect within parts of society.

For over thirty years I worked in Canada's Federal Penitentiaries.
Theories for 'curing' criminals have varied from one popular theme to another. For a while it was "pity the fellow from a broken home", then it was "If only he had religion", then it was "reach out and pair up with a family in the community" then, "Cognitive skills training," "Substance abuse therapy", "Sex offender programs". The list goes on and on.
Far too many prisons are built near universities. The PHD candidates rush to test their theories on the captive population. The game is everlasting.
If you want to stop crime, don't wait until the crime is committed. Seek out the root causes of anti-social behaviour and start there. Fix the leaky boat, don't wait until it sinks and try to refloat it!
All prisons can do is teach prisoners to live in captivity! Set the criminal loose and the criminal will decide which way he wants to live, probably as a criminal.
David

Vitamins! a good beating once a day would be cheaper and more effective.

I would like to give them a pill!!!

Vitamin pills and those added to foods do not seem to be as effective as those derived from whole foods themselves according to most of the research I have seen and so I would have to agree with Frances Crook that improving the quality of the food is a better solution. Unfortunately it would be more costly. For the comments about why the prison diet isnt adequate as it is, since it may be better than the diets the prisoners have followed in their lives outside the prison, I would point out that choice is a big factor. When you are able to choose what you are hungry for, you are more likely to provide your body with the nutrients it is craving. Even though we are all humans we have different needs metabolically, both in general and on a day to day basis. Cooking methods also greatly impact the level of nutrients that survive the cooking process and are able to be utilised by the body.
Lastly, I think it would make perfect sense from an evolutionary standpoint that vitamins would affect the levels of aggression in humans or any animal. Most aggession in animals and humans is over territory, and this is at the bottom line over resources. Long before we cared about oil, we cared about food. It would make perfect sense that when ones nutrients dropped below a certain level one would become more agressive and it would be easy to see how natural selection would have favored this. Why then doesnt everyone become antisocial when on a crappy diet? There is natural variation among humans, and there have always been some more aggressive than others. Wars historically have not been fought by the population as a whole, but by a specific group of humans that resembles the prison population quite a bit. Males, young, aggressive, etc. I think the expereiment is interesting and certainly worth conducting. For those offended by the fact that prisoners are being given vitamins when they dont "deserve" it, realise that this isnt about benefitting them, i

Brit Mil #82: I am quite liberated, almost libertine. Helping people? Yup, I do my bit. As for the religious stuff: Churches are one of the reasons we have so much comparative poverty. Poverty? "It's God's Will" don't you know...now pay us your tax and build us a nice church that’s bigger than any house you will ever have; if you don’t, you go to hell.

Swilly #84: Yeah B Complex, 1g a day! Worked wonders for me until I couldn't get them anymore. 1999 and I heard that New Labour had banned them. If I remember rightly, the woman who pushed through the bill to ban them was married to a guy whose company wanted to make them more expensive. Can't find a link to this. Any help, anyone?

IWight #80: Aye, right you are. Let's deconstruct--
"Perhaps poor people have shorter life expectancy because they are more likely to smoke, take less exercise, and CHOOSE unhealthy food...." --So nothing to do with bad housing, education, low esteem with society etc? How come here in Finland, crime and aggressive behaviour are less than in Brit Isles? The poor people here are looked after more, the wealth is spread more evenly. Crime here has started to increase. Why? Because the gap between rich and poor has increased in the last 10 years. You say, "Perhaps we should give the poor the dignity of being responsible for their health choices. That would make them equal." I have not heard anything so crass since Tebbit's "get on your bike" comment. You say, "People like you want to make them less than you, who's the class bigot?" Bigotry is ignorance. Speaking as someone who lived in these dump areas around Edinburgh (including living in a caravan with a wee baby) I have the feeling I am able to talk without ignorance.

Scotweb: I do love these links. The "Open your mind" one, to me, makes the rather irrational assumption of a symbolic link between the oppressor in our society and the "devil". Satan, in my interpretation, was all for liberty and freedom and individual responsibility. (That's why it's regarded as Evil/bad: There was some religion way back that promoted freewill but the jewish faith demonised it, literaly. I can't quite see why the Oppressor would link themselves with such a notion as the last thing they want is for us to be free.

It can only be one thing,the ones that got caught and end up in jail have never had any vitties and the ones that are still roaming around free are the ones who take alot of vitties,so now we can expect a surge of potential jail birds swallowing vitties by the handful.Thinking all the time.

Comment@85 Eve, hi there, the problem is a lot larger than what people think. The health and mental issues associated are affecting more than just the prison population and big business and as usual AGENDAS have a lot to to with it.
Here is a great vid that is narrated by none other that Dame Judy Dench and well worth the watching :) http://herballure.com/Special/WeBecomeSilent/QuickTime.html

#92 you would love Nietzsche's "On the geneaology of morality" if you havent already read it.

Between Perth and Dundee they sell many strong wines (Cairn O' Mhor)
I favour the Oak Leaf for my wild dunken times.
But now that I'm older, when I go on the pee
I must take my tablets - supervitamin B.

Super VitB replaces what the booze takes away
But it perfumes urinals with a yeasty bouquet
And it colours your water a deep orange tinge
But it keeps yourself healthy when you go on the binge

For your liver and kidneys, a supervitamin plus
Preventing the advent of a blood-vesselled pus
And when you get married and you give up the beer
You don't miss your tablets when your water runs clear

With apologies to Gram Parsons. Why not try the experiment and see if it works?

"Pills" to calm your prison inmates?
Should work.
Here we drug the H*** out of our active children ..rather than put in some quality time with them.
The adults swallow "tranks"..by the handful to calm themselves in the endless pursuit of getting a bigger house, or S.U.V. than their neighbour.
Interesting ..is it not?

#91
"Let's deconstruct"
Please. This is the Scotsman not Marxism Today.

I see you don't actually refute what I point out: that the poor smoke more, take less exercise and eat less healthy food than the rest of the population. These are the critical factors in health. We have a welfare state, the poor are well looked after. As I said giving up smoking saves money, walking is free, and fruit and vegetables are cheap. Stop making excuses for people making lifestyle choices. Fact: some people choose a lifestyle that almost guarantees them an early death relative to average mortality.

I read a few years ago of the benefits of vitamins on curing all ills. There is actually ment to be some truth in omega/fish oils having a benficial affect on the brain and on criminal behaviour.
I do actually agree with the "big hug" too but i am also well aware that there are alot of criminals/ bullies who are well aware of what they do and don't want to lose their "Power" by taking these vitamins.

Give them sleeping pills & charge their families & estate.

why not dope them when they are born instead. just put the pills in there mike and no worries ,I like to know who through of this brain storm. Do you know just what it's going to cost you peopleto do this. I'm sure you are paying taxes are you.

Frst of all i do apologise for my english.In 2000 and 2003 i've spent several months in Edinburgh so i know a bit about your food culture. In 2000 i was truly shocked when i realised, that my hostmum ev didn't even have a kitchen table...we were eating our microwave food on a tray on our knees in front of the telly. I was used to a huge table on which all family members would eat at least dinner together. That was also the moment to talk about problems, daily business and more. in 2003 i was surprised when i realised that the variety of fruits and healthy food had increased in the normal stores. I felt that there was a new awareness about malnutrition and fast food. Nevertheless i don't think that good/ bad food has such a huge influence on violence or criminal activities. I suppose it has to do with the lack of education and poverty. It is known that poor people are often less educated and eat unhealthier. Often there's no mother at home who prepares a meal for the children, because she has to work or doesn't care....this kids are possibly worse at school and it's more likely that they become violent or get criminal. This is the result of no family-, communication and food culture and not the lack of vitamins.

Great comments from #59 Tux and from Scotwebb.I have also found out [sorry no links]some vitamins are synthetic and cause problems of their own.
In all this a little bit of capital punishment wouldnt go astray.

Maybe we should give the islamic extremists vitamins! Lots of them!+

CYANIDE pills? You are well named - DICK!!

Dope in the "mike"... Seems to have worked for you!

#93 You were NOT supposed to let the prols know!!

#49. Smacking kids is more a result of being smacked as a kid than anything else. LAZY parents? Inadequately prepared to BE parents, more like. Listen to this voice of experience.

This follows 'a 2002 study that showed a 40% improvement'? Why so long for the follow up?

Sounds like a new fad among the those that sit in their drafty offices in high towers who live in fancy homes. Certainly prevention is the best medicine. Improve conditions the prisoners came from and the enviornment they will go back to for those who serve their time. This sounds like closing the barn door after the horse gets out. How about making quality food and vitamins affortable for everyone and educate children and their parents on such healtheir living.

113 Liz T....RIGHT ON! Would apply here in Canada as well.

Perhaps they could be given Lorazepam in their food & drinkies, along with Vitamin B complex?
That should keep the prisoners quiet and help repair their liver function as well!
But the best suggestion came online about a bit of exercise such as 'hard time' might work just as well!!

Christa (104). Don't know why you're apologising for your English; it's better than the average Scotsman post. Our food culture, I suspect, is more agar agar than haute cuisine - not that haute cuisine is particularly haute.
I seem to remember that 60% of prisoners are dyslexic. Maybe vitamins cure dyslexia. Maybe not.

#105 #57 -Bozo & Sylviaann - OFF THE SUBJECT

THE Australian flag has been branded a "gang colour" and symbol of hate - and will be banned from Sydney's Big Day Out.
Organisers of the Aussie rock festival will confiscate any flag or bandanna bearing the national symbol.
Calling Sydney a racist melting pot, producers of the Sydney concert said it would be the only one in the nationwide festival subject to the ban.

WHAT KIND OF BAND IS THIS? I HOPE NO ONE GOES TO SEE THEM! I didn't know Aussie was having trouble between Serbs & Croations. Is there trouble, or is this media hype and political correctness?

#117

The Serbs and Croats have been fighting and killing each other for donkey's years. Why let something like the Aussie Tennis Championship get in the way of a good brawl. They also fight when they meet on the soccer field and some teams have been banned but they reform under a new name and the mayhem continues.
As for banning the flag, another loony idea.
Watched a bit of the tennis-that Williams female-I would hate to get a left hook from her. Would much rather watch Miss Hingis or Sharapova.

American#We have trouble over here with all nations. Australians are proud of their flag and I think that banning it will cause more trouble. We will see which means more to them their flag or the concert.

It is becoming common knowledge that:
1) The food we eat contains little if any of the nourishment that we humans require for body or brain.
2) The fast food chains promote their delightful menu of fat in a burger.
3) Tinned food contains preservatives and additives which contain cancer, diabites and other types of serious illness AGENTS.
4) People do NOT drink enough water or get enough exercise but have no problem smoking or drinking alcohol to excess.
5) I could go on for ever.

It makes no difference whether you're a multi -millionare of are poor. Both have the above problems. the only difference is the the rich can get their diet of rubbish in a very expensive restaurant.

If you pour water on an electrical circuit it shorts out or explodes. Our system is similar so what is points 1 through 4 going to do to it?

It's rather obvious so the doctor has a good point.

Regarding the poor -- Scotland can only blame itself for staying an English lackey.

Knew a salesman for a chemical company.
He sold chemicals to the food processing industry.
To remove the skins from peaches etc., the fruit was vibrated on a tray of Caustic Soda.
Wonder what unnanounced ingredients go into so called vitamin pills.

Also relevant to the discussion about taming aggressive behavior is a book by a doctor who treats brain injured patients. He uses SPECT scans of the brain to determine which areas are deficient in functioning. Aggression and temporal lobe damage are linked. Although a person can have several problem areas the issue of aggression must be dealt with first.

Read "Healing The Hardware of the Soul" by Daniel G. Amen, MD.

Hope this is useful to someone.

Help me guys! help! Maniac Americans and Australians (#117 #119 #106 #105) tried to hijack the conversation -- they're crapping on about the bloody flag (proud of it? --dinna be sae daft) & actually believe that it's more important than music -- can ye credit it? Thanks for the info. Friend -at- large. We've had heaps of crims here in Australia -- one's that have caused State Banks to collapse & then taken the money & cleared off overseas.
You can bet yer sweet nellie they were eating very well.

#123 - I said it was off the subject. Just curious. And thanks Aussies for the info.

I think the study is silly. I bet O.J. Simpson had a really good meal before he killed his wife. My grandparents never had money for good meals, they never committed any crimes (although, there was a female numbers bookie).

Attn #117 & 123 and others. The last I heard regarding the banning of the Ozzie flag was there has ben a big back down 'we didnt ban the flag it was only big ones that would stop people seeing things' How many nore cuckos are there around.