RECREATIONAL RITALIN: A DISTURBING TREND

THEY CALL it Vitamin K. They call it R-ball. The smart drug. That's how the
prescription drug Ritalin (methylphenidate) is known on the streets and in
our schools.

Ritalin, the most frequently prescribed drug to treat attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder in children, is diverted for illegal, non-medical needs.

In a growing trend, some kids snort crushed tablets to get a cocaine-like
rush. Or they dissolve tablets in water, "cook it" and inject it
intravenously like heroin to get high. Or they swallow the tablets whole to
help them stay focused and to study better.

Ritalin tablets sell for 25 cents to 50 cents in pharmacies -- and from $3
to $15 on the street.

How do kids who don't have a prescription get their hands on Ritalin?

Easily.

Currently, 3 to 4 million kids diagnosed with attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder are taking Ritalin, an increase in prescriptions by
600 percent over the past five years.

Most of these children receive their school-dispensed doses of Ritalin from
non-medical school personnel (teachers, secretaries and counselors). This
creates a system rife with potential abuse. It's impossible to monitor
accurately. As a result, a significant portion of prescription Ritalin is
passed on to other kids.

My son is a college senior. He has told me, as have many other college
students, that Ritalin is misused "all the time" by students in college to
enhance their academic success. When it comes to absorbing and retaining
material for a major test or keeping up that creative, honed-in focus on a
term paper, Ritalin has become the undisputed drug of choice.

According to a 1994 University of Michigan survey, "Monitoring the Future,"
350,000 high school seniors admitted to abusing Ritalin, double the number
who acknowledged abusing it in 1993. If data from a soon-to-be-issued
Massachusetts Department of Public Health survey may be considered to take
the pulse of Ritalin misuse among middle school and high school students,
then our nation's youth are taking Ritalin in disturbing numbers: 4 percent
of middle school students and 13 percent of 6,000 high school students
anonymously reported using Ritalin illicitly.

Students have found they need to increase their doses to keep a Ritalin-
assisted focus while studying. Strokes, hypertension, seizures, hypothermia
and several deaths have been attributed to misuse of Ritalin. Drug
Enforcement Administration statistics cited 1,171 U.S. emergency room
admissions due to Ritalin abuse in 1994, and that number has undoubtedly
increased.

We're not talking about college kids ingesting caffeine to aid in pulling
an all-nighter before a chemistry final. As today's collegians will tell
you, over-the-counter drugs can help them stay awake, but Ritalin helps
them get better grades -- at least, that's what they believe.

Why should we be surprised that competitively pressured students are drawn
to the promise of Ritalin to boost their academic focus and performance? If
it helped them in high school, why wouldn't its appeal be even stronger,
given the increased academic demands of college?

Parents, school administrators, public health officials and physicians
prescribing Ritalin to children must seriously address this alarming trend.
Ritalin abuse is not even on the radar screen of most states' and
communities' anti-drug efforts, their focus being non-prescription drugs
like marijuana, cocaine and heroin and the abuse of alcohol.

It's time to give Ritalin its due. It's popular, affordable, and available.
When used irresponsibly, it's dangerous. Do you know how Ritalin is
distributed at your school? You owe it to your kids to find out.

Carleton Kendrick is the family therapist expert for FamilyEducation.com,
part of Learning Network.