Editor:
With much interest, I read Mr. Sullivan's enlightening and witty editorial1 regarding my article published in the Journal last year.2 His comments provide an authoritative insider's appreciation of the crafting of legislation and help advance the discourse in this area of the law. Mr. Sullivan's points are well taken: politics are messy, and they engender odd bedfellows. We have a lesser government than we deserve, and we ought to seize the opportunity to express our opinion. There is, however, one point I need to clarify. Mr. Sullivan indicated that in the article I stated that I was “surprised and not happily” about the way substance abuse treatment laws for adolescents have been crafted (Ref. 1, p 11). While learning details about the fashioning of said laws was eye-opening, I did not include in the paper the phrase Mr. Sullivan ascribes to me. Furthermore, I was neither amazed nor distressed by the data I obtained. As the number 1 cliché for 2004, according to USA Today, states: it is what it is! My findings simply provide further support to the quote attributed by some to Otto von Bismarck: Laws are like sausages—it is best not to see them being made.
- American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
