World War II killed 50 million people. Unthinkable! But, even today, the ongoing 2nd Congo War has killed way over 5 million so far.

Soldiers have returned to my home city of Los Angeles, from Iraq and Afghanistan, unscathed, only to be shot dead on the streets of LA by gang-bangers. Distraught family members kill other family members, even their own children, and often commit suicide as well. School bullies, never counseled or controlled, grow up to be gang leaders, even military tyrants in some countries, and cause many deaths, even large wars.

California has a great law that, as a medical doctor, I have seen save lives. A court can order a 3-day medical and psychiatric evaluation, involuntarily, in cases where a psychiatrist convinces the judge that a person, or persons, is/are of imminent, serious danger to themselves or others. The Peace Prescription calls for a more comprehensive violence-preventing law that I call the Peace Law. Anyone should be able to start the intervention process, under law, when violence is seriously threatened, advocated, or planned. Yelling "Fire!" falsely in a crowded theater is not "free speech". It's a threat to public safety, as the court ruled when people were trampled to death in such a situation.

Now, all over the world, we have to wait until people are seriously assaulted, injured, or killed, and then we can arrest and intervene. To me this is a form of insanity. I have seen people thank those who intervened to prevent them from committing violence. And, that doesn't even include the gratitude of the intended victims and those who would have had to mourn them!