HYPERACTIVE CHILD DRUG LIKE COCAINE

LONDON (Reuters) -- A medicine taken by millions of hyperactive children
has similar properties to cocaine and could encourage drug abuse in later
life, New Scientist magazine reported yesterday.

Methylphenidate, better known as Ritalin, is the leading treatment for
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which prevents children from
concentrating on a task for more than a few minutes.

A study of 5,000 children by developmental psychologist Nadine Lambert of
the University of California at Berkeley says children on Ritalin are more
likely to smoke as adults. Psychopharmacologist Susan Schenk of Texas A&M
University in College Station suggests they are three times more likely to
develop a taste for cocaine.