Tennessee Mandates Drug Testing for Mass Shooters
Seventy-seven million Americans take psychotropic drugs, including more than six million children and youth. And evidence is growing that these drugs may be a contributing factor in mass shooting incidents. A wall of secrecy often makes it difficult to know whether the shooter was using psychotropic drugs or receiving psychiatric treatment.
Leading the way in lifting the lid on the link between drugs and heinous acts of violence is the state of Tennessee. In 2025, it passed a law requiring that, when a deceased perpetrator is responsible for four or more fatalities in a shooting, the county medical examiner must test for the presence of any drugs, including psychotropic drugs. The results must then be disclosed to the University of Tennessee’s Health Science Center and the state’s Department of Health. The university is directed to study interactions between psychotropic drugs and other substances found in violent perpetrators.
“When someone commits mass murder, the public has a right to know if mind-altering drugs played a role,” said Sheila Matthews, vice president of the parents’ rights group AbleChild, who co-drafted the bill. Matthews said the law could have far-reaching effects, calling it a “blueprint for dismantling the wall of secrecy” about the violent adverse effects of some psychotropic drugs.
“When someone commits mass murder, the public has a right to know if mind-altering drugs played a role.”
CCHR is urging other states to adopt similar laws with broader testing and reporting to strengthen transparency and accountability. Additionally, if more states pass such laws, it could expand the FDA’s Adverse Drug Reporting System’s database on cases of homicide or homicidal ideation connected to psychotropic drugs, which could trigger safety reviews. Already, 1,530 such cases are on file with the FDA.
Since 1989, CCHR has documented violent acts linked to psychotropic drugs or their withdrawal. In 2025, it released the documentary Prescription for Violence: Psychiatry’s Deadly Side Effects, exposing the correlation between psychiatric drugs and mass shootings.
FACTS
THE FACTS THEY HIDE
Psychiatrists won’t warn you about the deadly and horrifying side effects of their drugs.
8
TIMES
more likely to die by suicide if receiving psychiatric treatment (Denmark study)
6 TO 8
HOURS
after stopping some psychotropic drugs, withdrawal symptoms may begin
1,400,000
ESTIMATED CASES
of violent reactions have been linked to psychiatric drugs
240%
INCREASE
in US children and adolescents receiving antidepressants (including SSRIs) in less than two decades
16 OUT OF 20
DEADLY US MASS SHOOTINGS
have occurred in the past two decades
END PSYCHIATRIC ABUSE
As a nonprofit mental health industry watchdog, CCHR relies on memberships and donations to carry out its mission to eradicate psychiatric violations of human rights and to clean up the field of mental health. To become part of the world’s largest movement for mental health reform, join the group that has helped enact hundreds of laws protecting citizens from abusive psychiatric practices.
