Patrick J. Kennedy: “The notion is you can't turn away from this problem and think that the problem is going to go away.”

we are in denial as a Nation about mental health.

We ought to be encouraging people in this country to seek mental health. That should not be a disqualifying factor.

there are hundreds of thousands of my fellows in America who are dying because their medical system does not know they have an underlying addiction because it doesn't show in the EMR that they have been treated for addiction.

I think, obviously, when you look at the fact that so many of our jails are filled with people with mental illnesses and addictions, that clearly a better response than occupying police time would be to make sure that proper first…