RITALIN ABUSE AND TEENAGE CRIME

PETER JENNINGS, anchor: We're going to take a closer look at drugs and crime tonight. The drug
Ritalin, to be specific, and teenage crime. It's almost five years now
since we first focused on how Ritalin can be abused. The same Ritalin
that's long been used to treat hyperactivity in children. The same
prescription drug that is a mild stimulant when taken as directed by a
doctor. A powerful and dangerous one when it is crushed and then snorted
like cocaine or injected like heroin. This week, the Federal Government has
begun an investigation into theft and abuse of Ritalin in the nation's
schools. Here is ABC's Brian Rooney.

BRIAN ROONEY reporting: (Voiceover) Yesterday, five Florida high school students were arrested for illegal
possession and sale of Ritalin. According to the police, one teenager had
a prescription for the drug, but was selling it to others for a dollar a
pill.

Ms. HILDA CUARRION (Parent): Kids don't sleep well at night probably.
They're taking this to get up in the daytime and get their school work done
or just to fit in in the crowd. To be cool.

ROONEY: (Voiceover) In Orem, Utah, an elementary school principal was sentenced to
30 days in jail for stealing Ritalin out of the school medical cabinet.

Unidentified Man: I apologize for my actions. I can't change what happened
in the past.

ROONEY: (Voiceover) In Newport Beach, California, Martha Fluor says her son, Doug
was dramatically helped by Ritalin until about the age of 14 when he
started to abuse it.

Ms. MARTHA FLUOR (Parent): He was starting to crush it and keep a couple of
them and sniff it.

ROONEY: (Voiceover) What's happening, according to the Drug Enforcement
Administration, is that Ritalin has become a serious and growing drug
problem. Prescriptions have increased seven times in the last ten years,
and Ritalin abuse has followed. In some schools, the DEA says, there's more
Ritalin in the medicine chest than at the local pharmacy.

Ms. GRETCHEN FEUSSNER (DEA Pharmacologist): Generally speaking, the more
available a drug is, the--if it has abuse potential, the more likely it
will be abused.

ROONEY: No one knows exactly how much illegal use of Ritalin there might
be. In a yet to be released Massachusetts study, 13 percent of the high
school students surveyed said they had used Ritalin without a prescription.

Ms. FEUSSNER: It produces effects of feeling smarter, feeling more alert,
feeling more on top of the world, so that you might want to turn around and
use it again.

ROONEY: (Voiceover) Research conducted by a professor at Berkeley indicates that
for some children, prescribed use of Ritalin can double the likelihood of
addiction later in life. That's what Martha Fluor believes happened to her
son who is now addicted to speed, heroin and cocaine.

Ms. FLUOR: Ritalin is not addictive, per se. It was in our--in our instance
and with our son, a gateway drug.

ROONEY: (Voiceover) Ritalin is supposed to help people with Attention Deficit
Disorder, and it does, but the risk is that children who take it can
develop an appetite for more and stronger drugs. Brian Rooney, ABC News,
Los Angeles.

JENNINGS: When we come back, our final item in the broadcast this evening.
Why so many people are grabbing their field guides and heading outdoors.

Unidentified Woman: I think it's just a fun activity to be outside and,
excuse me, I need to see a Merlin.

(Commercial break)