RITALIN ABUSE WORRIES DOCTORS

PHILADELPHIA - For years, parents, doctors and regulators have
squabbled over the medicinal value of the prescription drug Ritalin
and its ability to get distracted and hyperactive children to calm
down and pay attention at school.

Now, they have more to squabble about: As use of Ritalin has exploded
in the last decade, the medicine's easy availability and its powerful
stimulant effects are fueling a growing epidemic of drug abuse.

On Wednesday, for example, police in a Philadelphia suburb arrested a
young man who is accused of breaking into his high school's medicine
cabinet last week and making off with hundreds of pills of Ritalin
and Adderall, medicines widely used to treat attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder.

The incident adds to a growing sense of unease about Ritalin abuse,
especially among young people. While some swallow the medicine in its
regular pill form, others crush and snort it, or dissolve and inject
it into a vein - producing both euphoria and addiction.

"This is a growing concern that all of us are getting increasingly
alarmed about," said Anthony Rostain, co-director of the Pediatric
Neuropsychiatric Program at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Rostain treats the deficit disorder, sometimes with Ritalin.

"The most common misuse of this medication has been to sell it as
speed or 'uppers' to help students stay up all night to study,"
Rostain said. "Most college students have been able to purchase them
for years. Now we have begun seeing recreational use to induce a
euphoric state. We are hearing about snorting Ritalin or Dexedrine."

The Drug Enforcement Administration classifies Ritalin as a Schedule
2 drug - the class of medical drugs with the highest potential for
abuse.