KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasEffects of Methamphetamine on the Brain
Stephen Ressa will face a psychiatric evaluation before his next court appearance at the end of October. But Ressa's family has already admitted that he has a history of drug and alcohol abuse that could have played a role in this attack.
Ressa remains in custody at the Clark County Detention Center. According to medical professionals, it's not unusual for people with a methamphetamine addiction to end up behind bars.
Michael Ressa, Stephen's father, said, "He was on drugs. Somehow we missed it, but he evidently was doing speed and alcohol and somewhere down the line it whacked out his brain."
Michael Ressa's description of his son's drug addiction may be on target according to medical experts. Dr. Mel Pohl with the Las Vegas Recovery Center says that if Ressa had a history with methamphatamines and alcohol addiction then he may have truly believed that the people he allegedly ran over were demons.
Dr. Pohl said, "It's not uncommon that people have true visions of things that aren't really there. Furthermore, alcohol is this inhibiting. So when you combine alcohol and the stimulant like meth you have someone who is disinhibited and is released from their normal social proper behavior."
On Monday a judge ruled that Ressa needed a psychiatric evaluation before his next court appearance to determine if he was sane.
Dr. Pohl says that it is possible that years of drug use have made Ressa legally psychotic. "It's a distortion of reality and I have seen many cases of people who do not go back to normal after they stop using the methamphetamines. Now whether eventually it is months to years they may return to normal is uncertain."
Michael Ressa added, "We tried to help. We sent him to a rehab center. We even were thinking it would help to set him up in his own apartment -- try to get a new life, a new start on things."
Dr. Pohl says that it appears that Ressa's family did all the right things to get him help but that addicts often need a reason and desire to quit and that may not have existed with Stephen Ressa.
According to Stephen Ressa's father, he had just finished a 90-day sentence in prison for a drug possession charge. But his dad said that treatment was not effective for him.
