RESOUR> Ritalin as a Adolescent Drug Abuse Problem
- From: Gleason Sackmann <gleason@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: NetHappenings <nethappenings@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 12:04:09 -0600
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Net Happenings - From Educational CyberPlayGround
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From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 12:58:25 -0500 (EST)
There is increasing concern regarding adolescent abuse of the drug Ritalin
as a dieting drug.
Wonder Drugs Misused
Teens Abusing And Selling Ritalin
<http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/Living/GMA030225Ritalin_abuse.html>
Feb. 25 A growing number of young people are snorting Ritalin a
much-lauded drug for hyperactive children to lose weight, study for exams
and in some cases, just to get high, according to some drug experts.
Teens and 20-somethings are the key abusers, and some even go to their
doctors and fake symptoms in order to get prescriptions for Ritalin that
they subsequently misuse themselves, and even sell to their friends,
experts said.
"I'd take six, seven, eight pills at a time," said Jacob Stone, a high
school student at Sobriety High, a drug treatment school in Minneapolis,
who used to abuse Ritalin. "I'd snort them. Along the way, I knew a couple
who would melt them down and shoot them up."
There has been a six-fold increase in emergency room visits associated to
Ritalin abuse over the past decade, according to the Drug Abuse Warning
Network, which tracks drug abuse data for federal health authorities.
There were 271 Ritalin-related emergency room visits in 1990 and 1,478
visits in 2001.
==========================
PBS - frontline: medicating kids: ritalin abuse: statistics
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/medicating/
drugs/ritalinstats.html>
While prescriptions for Ritalin (methylphenidate) grew dramatically in the
1990s, reports of its illegal use also rose. Here's the range of official
statistics on the problem:
According to the University of Michigan's annual "Monitoring the Future"
studies, from 1988-1999 the percentage of seniors who reported using
Ritalin without a prescription went from 0.3 percent to 2.4 percent. In
fact, in its 1994 report, data indicated that at that time, there were
more U.S. high-school seniors who abused Ritalin than there were seniors
who were legally prescribed the drug.[1]
According to a 1996 Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) study of three states
(Wisconsin, South Carolina, and Indiana), roughly 30-50 percent of
adolescents in drug treatment centers reported "non-medical" use of
methylphenidate. However, it wasn't identified as their primary drug of
abuse.
A 1998 Indiana University study of 44,232 students found that 6.8 percent
of ninth-graders surveyed reported using Ritalin illicitly at least once.
==========================
Ritalin Effects and ADD ADHD Medicine Side Effects.
<http://www.add-adhd-help-center.com/ritalin_side_effects.htm>
Common Ritalin side effects are:
difficulty sleeping
loss of appetite
irritability
nervousness
stomach aches
headaches
dry mouth
blurry vision
nausea
dizziness
drowsiness
ticks
moodiness.
Other Ritalin side effects can include:
hypersensitivity
anorexia
palpitations
blood pressure and pulse changes
cardiac arrhythmia
anemia
scalp hair loss
toxic psychosis
The following, though rare, have also been reported as Ritalin effects:
abnormal liver function
cerebral arteritis
leukopenia
death
==========================
Look Who's taking Ritalin
by Katherine West
<http://pages.sssnet.com/ohiobar/education-ritalinabuse-kw.html>
How Can We Stop the Illegal Accessibility of Ritalin?
The only sure way to do this is to make it much harder to get diagnosed
with ADD-ADHD, which is a much-needed change in any case. Doctors are too
ready to diagnose this disorder without first performing the proper
physical and psychological tests. Now we have an even greater reason to
change this fact.
Another way to get the drug out of the schools is for the schools
themselves to be more open to classroom modifications and behavioral
differences. Expecting students to be little robots whom sit still, they
urge parents to take their child to a doctor for simply being active.
Thirty percent of school age children in some states are on Ritalin, yet a
national average shows that only approximately 11% of kids actually have
ADD and/or ADHD. Why is this? It is because of the over diagnosis of ADD
and the pressure that children and parents, even doctors, feel from
teachers and school administrators.
Tips for Parents:
Personally take all prescription medication to your child's school.
Keep track of the number of pills very carefully.
Flush any old prescriptions of the drug.
==========================
DEA Congressional Testimony
Statement by:
Terrance Woodworth
Deputy Director
Office of Diversion Control
Drug Enforcement Administration
Before the:
Committee on Education and the Workforce: Subcommittee on Early Childhood,
Youth and Families
Date:
May 16, 2000
<http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/cngrtest/ct051600.htm>
==========================
October 3, 2001
Stimulant-Drug Abuse in Schools
Overstated, Study Says
By Lisa Fine
<http://www.edweek.org/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=05ritalin.h21>
With a spike in the use of stimulant drugs to treat children with
attention disorders in recent years, many principals and teachers have
feared that abuse of such drugs at schools would become widespread.
Students' sales of their prescription pills and thefts of such drugs by
other students have been concerns for some schools.
But the first federal survey to look at the prevalence of abuse of
stimulant drugs in schoolsprimarily methylphenidate, known commonly under
the brand name Ritalin, used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity
disorderpaints a less worrisome picture.
Middle school and high school principals around the country report having
seen few instances of theft or abuse of stimulant drugs used to treat
attention disorders, according to the report last month by the
investigative arm of Congress. Most schools have procedures for storing
and distributing such pills to minimize the risk of drug theft, the
General Accounting Office says. ("Thefts of Drugs Prompt Schools to
Tighten Up," March 28, 2001.)
==========================
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LITERACY FROM HOME LANGUAGE TO THE STANDARD
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are functionally illiterate. 60% of the Urban School Children do
not graduate High School of the 40% that do they are only
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Full Stories May Be Read at the URLs Above.
Sincerely,
David Dillard Research Librarian
david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ECP RingLeader
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/ringleaders/davidd.html
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
jwne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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