Kristi Rieg: Save Mart correct in to get rid of energy drink

Re “Savemart drops brand name tied to illness” (Page 3A, March 25): NAMI Merced County, the local affiliate of the National Alliance of Mental Illness, commends Save Mart Supermarkets on its recent decision to discontinue the energy drink 51FIFTY, with its slogan “Live the Madness.”

NAMI members, the family, friends and folks who live with serious brain illnesses, know the agony of these illnesses is made even worse by the stigma and mocking of a society that blames the victims. When someone is so ill, frightened, confused and decompensated that they are in imminent danger of hurting themselves or someone else, a law enforcement code of “5150” forcibly commits that person to a hospital crisis unit. To characterize the most terrifying, humiliating experience of someone’s life as though it were an adventure in high-energy adds painful insult to existing injury. Thank you Save Mart for your action.

This story was originally published March 28, 2016 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Kristi Rieg: Save Mart correct in to get rid of energy drink."