FDA - Controlled Drug Schedule II
"These medicines have therapeutic uses and have the highest abuse and dependence potential for drugs with medicinal purposes. Examples include; Morphine, Demerol, Speed, Opium, Cocaine and Ritalin. A written prescription is required and refills are not allowed."
U.S. Department of Justice -
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
The DEA lists the folowing as Drugs of Concern: Cocaine, Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol), Gamma Hydroxybutyrate (GHB), Heroin, Inhalants, Ketamine, Licit Drugs and Chemicals of Concern, Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), Marijuana, MDMA (Ecstasy), Methamphetamine, Methylphenidate (Ritalin), Phencyclidine (PCP), and Steroids.
METHYLPHENIDATE (RITALIN®) - "Methylphenidate, which is manufactured under the brand name Ritalin, is a Schedule II stimulant that produces pharmacological effects similar to those of cocaine and amphetamine and is prescribed by doctors to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other conditions. Unlike other stimulants, however, methylphenidate (MPH) has not been produced in clandestine labs. The dramatic increase in U.S. production and consumption of this drug in recent years can largely be attributed to its increased use for the treatment of ADHD in children. A growing number of incidents of abuse have been associated with adolescents and young adults who are using MPH for its stimulant effects: appetite suppression, wakefulness, and increased focus/attentiveness (for long nights of studying), and euphoria. Pharmaceutical tablets are most frequently taken orally or by crushing the tablets and snorting the powder. However, some addicts dissolve the tablets in water and inject the mixture. Complications arising from this practice are common due to the insoluble fillers used in the tablets. When injected, these materials block small blood vessels, causing serious damage to the lungs and retina of the eye. MPH also produces dose-related increases in heart rate and blood pressure and is capable of producing severe psychological dependence."
Now read & compare the following DEA "Uses and Effects" Charts:
The primary, legitmate medical use of methylphenidate (Ritalin) is to treat attention deficit disorders in children. As with other Schedule II stimulants, the abuse of methylphenidate may produce the same effects as the abuse of cocaine or the amphetamines. It has been reported that the psychosis of chronic methylphenidate intoxication is identical to the paranoid psychosis of amphetamine intoxication.
Unlike other stimulants, however, methylphenidate has not been clandestinely produced, although abuse of this substance has been well documented among narcotic addicts who dissolve the tablets in water and inject the mixture. Complications arising from this practice are common due to the insoluble fillers used in the tablets. When injected, these materials block small blood vessels, causing serious damage to the lungs and retina of the eye.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy
The Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), is a member of the President's Cabinet and is the principal Administration and national spokesperson on illicit drug use and related issues. The Director's role is to create a national understanding of the nature of threat from illicit drug use and the importance of resisting drugs at all levels of society. The Director also serves as "drug issues advocate" within the Cabinet, developing collaborative relationships with Cabinet members and keeping the President informed on drug issues. Additionally, the Director coordinates and oversees other national drug control program agencies, reviews and certifies agencies' drug control budgets, and serves as chair of ONDCP's Research, Data, and Evaluation Advisory Committee.
The Office of National Drug Control - Policy's Section on:
Street Terms: Drugs and the Drug Trade -- Drug Type: Ritalin
PREVENTION & EDUCATION
Prevention is the ultimate key to reversing the upward trend in the use of drugs and empowering communities to address their drug problems. Central to this effort is the development and implementation of initiatives to prevent illicit drug use, including casual use by youth and other high-risk populations. The most effective strategies for preventing drug use, keeping drugs out of neighborhoods and schools, and providing a safe and secure environment for all people are cooperative efforts that mobilize and involve all elements of a community. Source: www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov
Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention:
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Epidemiologic issues in ADHD
The science of public health is epidemiology and this type of research uses population-based methods to identify etiologic pathways to disease or disorder development. It also provides the foundation for research in prevention, risk-factor analysis, and other relevant areas. Little rigorous scientific study of comorbidity, etiology, risk factors, or prevention of ADHD has been completed and the studies available have relied heavily on clinic-based populations rather than on population-based sampling. However, such rough estimates of comorbidity, secondary conditions, and health risk behaviors among those with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are quite high and range from 30 to 60 percent for highly comorbid conditions. ADHD is a very prevalent childhood disorder with a number of commonly comorbid conditions that present or develop in time with significant additional social, learning, and psychological impairment.
Prevalence estimates of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have historically varied over time ranging from as low as under 1% to as high as nearly 20% of school-age children. There is no systematic monitoring of ADHD, no gold standard for epidemiologic research of the disorder, and minimal population-based epidemiologic research of ADHD in the United States. Consequently, even rough estimates of the prevalence provide no meaningful indication of the level of burden this disorder poses in our society. Unfortunately, current research endeavors provide insufficient information to explore, even roughly, basic descriptive epidemiologic questions such as how the disorder may vary by race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and age. Currently there is no known etiology for the disorder; therefore, epidemiologic research is imperative. However there is a paucity [only a small number] of such rigorous science in the ADHD field. Source: http://www.cdc.gov
Public Health Concerns in the Treatment of ADHD
"The identification and treatment of both children and adults with ADHD is a very politicized and controversial topic. Due to the potential magnitude of the problem, especially among our nation’s youth, and the consequences of large numbers of persons seeking and/or receiving treatment at any given time, long-term outcomes (risks and benefits) of treatment should be monitored to ensure safety and optimal functioning where possible. The most common treatment is the psychopharmacological agent methylphenidate. Due to the lack of research of the long-term efficacy (greater than 24 months and in preschool populations), and safety of such treatment at the population level, a public health perspective should be applied to the treatment of ADHD. The lack of such research, coupled with an increase in length of treatment during the formative growth years, a decrease in the age of initiation into treatment, and growing prevalence estimates, are all causes for concern. As treatment options are considered, it is apparent that more reliance is placed on pharmaceutical remedies than on psychological interventions such as behavior modification, although the latter have been shown to have beneficial effects. This emphasis is apparent even without adequate evidence of long-term academic and functional improvements from pharmacological interventions."
"An additional concern in the treatment of ADHD is the issue of comorbidity.*** Comorbid conditions and health risk behaviors associated with ADHD are often not identified or treated appropriately and those factors result in a significantly higher social cost burden, increased risk for poor educational attainment, and compromised social integration. A public health perspective must be applied to this disorder in a manner that acknowledges and addresses the high risk for comorbidity, secondary conditions, and participation in significant health risk behaviors associated with impulsive and inattentive behavior."
*** Comorbity is making reference to all the many factors, known and ununknown, that contribute to making or producing the deviation from normal.
"An internal CDC workgroup hosted a one-day meeting with several ADHD experts on this topic to answer specific questions and generate ideas for needed research. The executive summary of this meeting provides detailed questions and answers to related issues. Source: http://www.cdc.gov
Indiana Prevention Resouce Center @ Indiana University:
FACTLINE on Non-Medical Use of Ritalin (methylphenidate)
by William J. Bailey, M.P.H., C.P.P.
A familiar stimulant drug, long used to treat hyperactivity in children, is quickly becoming the drug abuse "hot topic" in the American Midwest. Reports of Ritalin (methylphenidate) abuse have taken center stage in television specials and news magazine articles in the fall of 1995. Prescription tablets, which produce mild stimulant effects when taken as directed and at usual prescription doses, can create powerful stimulant effects and serious health risks when crushed and then snorted like cocaine, or injected like heroin.
Producing cocaine-like stimulant effects, snorted or injected Ritalin is just the latest trend in a resurgence in abuse of stimulant drugs that recalls the "Speed Freak" era of the late 1960's. : Source: http://www.drugs.indiana.edu
Copyright 1995, The Trustees of Indiana University.
Permission granted for free distribution of copies for non-profit educational use. All other rights reserved.
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