About 1,000 protesters picketed a convention of psychiatrists Saturday to demand they stop prescribing mind-altering medications to young people.
Such medicine leads to youth violence, said three protest leaders, actors Kirstie Alley and Juliette Lewis and singer Lisa Marie Presley.
"They're making drug addicts out of our children," said Alley, best known for her roles on the TV shows Cheers and Veronica's Closet. "It's barbaric, and it's being promoted by psychiatrists."
The demonstration, organized by the Church of Scientology's Citizens Commission on Human Rights, targeted the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in downtown Washington. The church's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, strongly opposed psychiatry.