POOH GETS HIS RITALIN

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has issued a report that
ought to catch the attention of the medical profession in Vermont.
According to the DEA, Vermont ranks second of all the states in the
per-capita use of Ritalin.

The head of the Vermont Drug Task Force said the high ranking - as
well as high usage of other prescription drugs - means one of three
things: Either Vermont has a high number of sick people, or Vermont
doctors are over-prescribing, or there is a high incidence of
prescription drug abuse.

Ritalin is a drug prescribed for children diagnosed with attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is a stimulant based on
amphetamine, though, paradoxically, it has the effect of calming down
hyperactive children.

If abused, Ritalin can be addictive. Recent criminal incidents in the
Rutland area have involved the theft of Ritalin, which is sometimes
sold on the street. If the pill is ground up, it can be snorted,
producing a cocaine-like high.

The widespread diagnosis of ADHD, which is said affect to 4 to 12
percent of school-age children, has given rise to worries about
over-diagnosis and over-medication. If Vermont is the second-highest
user of Ritalin, those worries ought to get serious consideration.

Can it be that Vermont children are as pervasively affected by ADHD
as our Ritalin usage would suggest? Or does Vermont suffer from what
has been called excessive "medicalization of human experience"?

An article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal offered a
spoof of the tendency to turn every variant of human behavior into a
medical condition, prescribing the appropriate drugs for the
characters of "Winnie the Pooh." According to the authors, Pooh was a
candidate for Ritalin. Eeyore, meanwhile, was in line for some form
of anti-depressant.

In fact, the high rate of Ritalin use points to the possibility both
of over-diagnosis and over-prescription. The danger is that by
putting children on a drug at an early age doctors may be helping to
create a habit of drug dependency.

Ritalin can be useful in helping some children focus on their school
work. But the high usage in Vermont raises other questions. What has
happened in our school or home environments to provoke restlessness
where it didn't exist before? Wouldn't we do better to improve the
school and home environments for our children? If TV, computers, and
other stimuli are to blame, shouldn't we bring these stimuli under
control before subjecting our children to mind-altering drugs?

The fact that Ritalin is being abused just goes to show that some
people will go to great lengths to get high. Abuse of the drug should
not obstruct its continued usefulness in cases where it is
appropriate. But the high usage rate ought to put doctors, parents,
and educators on notice that they may be going overboard.

It is not enough to shrug and point to the high drug usage of adults,
who make ready use of anti-depressants and other drugs. If our goal
is to raise healthy children, over-medication is a danger sign.
Parents who worry that alcohol or marijuana have the potential of
leading to more dangerous drugs ought to be wary of the effects
prescription drugs, as well. Our children deserve care more personal
and profound than might be obtained by an over-hasty resort to the
medicine cabinet.