Furious Seasons

August 31, 2009

ADHD Meds Abuse Increases Dramatically

A new study is out in Pediatrics--it's not online yet--and, according to this account, it found a large increase in the abuse of ADHD drugs:

"The researchers looked for cases of intentional abuse or misuse of ADHD medications in youths 13 to 19 years old from 1998 through 2005.
"They found that over the eight-year study period, the number of calls to poison control centers regarding ADHD medication use went up 76 percent, from 330 calls during the first year to 581 calls the last year.

"At the same time, overall ADHD prescriptions increased by 80 percent for all children and teens, and about 86 percent for kids between 10 and 19 years old.

"The data didn't include information about whether a teen abusing an ADHD medication was the one who had been prescribed the drug or whether the abuser was a teen without ADHD who was taking the medications."

How much calls to poison centers mirror abuse in the populations as a whole isn't clear, but I know of way too many teens and 20somethings who've told me they abuse Ritalin and Adderall--and absolutely love it. Most of them buy a few pills through street dealers here and there. Earlier this year, the New Yorker had a piece on the rise of neuroenhancers and the underground sale of ADHD drugs wherein young adults were basically dealing Adderall online.

Whatever you make of ADHD, isn't it nice that Big Pharma has created a new class of drugs to abuse--or should I more properly say created a class of drugs that mimic speed and cocaine?--and that it's wrapped in white coat of medicine?

Posted by Philip Dawdy at August 31, 2009 12:03 AM

del.icio.us Digg it reddit

Comments

I agree with you, although I'd much rather druggies take adderall/ritalin over speed and cocane. After all, at least you know it was manufactured safely, and they know where it comes from.

Posted by: NiroZ at August 30, 2009 10:43 PM

Now all we need to do is invent a psych disorder that gets you a prescription of heroin and we can have some real fun! :P

Posted by: Neuroskeptic at August 31, 2009 02:06 AM

WTF NiroZ
"Druggies" is potentially anyone growing up and trying to figure out how to live life.

Posted by: mark p.s.2 at August 31, 2009 05:01 AM

Adderall is an amphetamine and Ritalin, Methylphenidate, is a potent central nervous system stimulant derived from amphetamine. To say these drugs aren't speed is like saying that legalized marijuana isn't pot, like saying prescribed narcotics aren't narcotics...you get the picture.

Posted by: Sally at August 31, 2009 05:59 AM

Adderall is definitely an amphetamine, aka legal speed. This is the very same speed that was rampantly abused when it was handed out by doctors in the 1970s for use as a weight loss drug until the government put a stop to it.

It looks like we're in for another round of legal speed freaks having to crash and burn before this latest marketing scam is exposed for what it is.

Those of us who lived through the last crash of legal speed freaks know it will not be pretty.

Posted by: Evelyn Pringle at August 31, 2009 09:15 AM

NZ--Rit is a much loved street drug-ppls shoot the shit all day long- gangs deal it-meth here is like $100 a point which is a ten of a gramm-where as a rit goes for $20-Jesus the ammount of face picking that goes on with the rit here is horrilbe-junkies on it look like some-thing from a Russian novel-it takes a hell of a toll of the body-

Triple bing for bigphama cos soon as they get2the Drug Centre-they get put on a ssri-or Effexor-with Seroquel--its a BIG issue here-

Me I say if ya going 2 do drugs--do them-aka-half decent ones-not this rat shit called Rit-they go into reptile bain-they get into OCD-they do repetive behaviours-really ugly 2 watch-

Ive taken some and I say-Jack shit2it-

Posted by: poodles at August 31, 2009 02:12 PM