BEHAVIOR DRUG GOES FOR $20 A POP IN SCHOOLYARDS

STUDENTS were being sold drugs in the schoolyard that were used to treat
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the National Drug and Alcohol
Research Centre said yesterday.

Centre spokesman Paul Dillon said students were buying methylphenindate and
dexamphetamine, possibly in a bid to enhance their educational
performances.

The problem was nationwide with students selling the drugs after obtaining
them from friends or younger siblings, diagnosed with the disorder.

"If you go out into the western suburbs, kids are charging $20 a packet and
I went to one school where enterprising kids were selling them for $20
each," Mr Dillon said.

Mr Dillon said the buying and selling of the drugs was significant given
the increasing number of children and adolescents diagnosed with the
disorder.

The Federal Government's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme shows 83,700
scripts for methylphenindate (Ritalin) were filled in 1997, compared with
78,380 in 1996 and 64,460 in 1995.

Mr Dillon said adolescents were using the drugs to get high although they
could also be taking them to stay awake and increase alertness - in a bid
to improve performances at school.

Secondary Schools Association president Karen Hart, also chairwoman of the
national advisory committee on school drug education, said she was unaware
that a problem with the drug existed. She said all schools had strict
procedures for students who needed medications at school.

Paul Hutchins, chairman of the NSW Health Department's stimulants
committee, said the problem, if it existed, was probably minor, especially
compared with the abuse of and experimentation with other legal and illegal
drugs.

Dr Hutchins, from the New Children's Hospital at Westmead in Sydney, said
one in 50 children had a severely disruptive behaviour problem.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson