CHILDREN'S DRUG HELPS ADDICTS FEED A HABIT

Ritalin is a class-B drug, used therapeutically in New Zealand and
around the world to control children's disruptive behaviour.

Tomorrow's 60 Minutes on TV1 shows the drug is being abused by drug
addicts and dealers.

According to the programme, every day thousands of children are asked
to be responsible for the drug, unaware that it is classified as
dangerous as amphetamine or Ecstasy.

Ritalin may control disruptive behaviour, reporter Janet McIntyre
finds, but used in other ways and in bigger quantities, it can have
very different, very serious side-effects.

The programme charts an ever-growing rise in Ritalin prescriptions to
children, and the number of people getting the drug to feed a habit.

Former user and dealer Mark Spessot tells McIntyre how he fed his
habit with prescriptions written for children.

"I would have 20 to 30 tablets a day," he says. At the same time it
cannot be ignored that for the families of 7500 New Zealand children,
the drug is seen as the answer to attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder - the key to controlling the uncontrollable.