TEEN 'HIT BY SPIKED DRINK'

POLICE are investigating how a 13-year-old boy overdosed at a Sydney school
after swallowing tablets for the treatment of attention deficit disorder
not prescribed for him.

Mt Druitt police confirmed they were investigating the incident after the
Year 8 student at Plumpton High was taken by ambulance to hospital with his
heart racing and dangerously high blood pressure.

Allegations have been raised that another student had "spiked" the boy's
drink while he went outside his classroom to wash his face just before
lunchtime on March 31.

Shortly after drinking from the 1.25-litre bottle of cola in the classroom,
the boy reported feeling hot and dizzy with his head spinning.

Paramedics who treated the boy said he had taken four to six tablets of the
drug dexamphetamine, prescribed to another boy in his year who suffered
from ADD.

"His condition was not life-threatening but it was of sufficient concern
for us to take him to hospital for further treatment," a spokesperson for
NSW Ambulance at Penrith said.

"The story was that the boy had wanted the tablets but the ambulance
officers present and the staff at school thought it dubious.

"The gut reaction from the paramedics was that it was untrue."

The school later called in Mt Druitt police to investigate and it is
understood another student has been suspended pending the investigation.

Officials from the Education Department yesterday said they couldn't
comment because the matter was the subject of a police investigation.

Chairman of the stimulants committee and senior pediatric consultant at the
Sydney Children's Hospital Dr Paul Hutchins said dexamphetamine was on the
list of potentially addictive drugs.

Dr Hutchins said amphetamines were often illegally manufactured and taken
mixed with other drugs in much bigger doses.

He warned that a 13-year-old boy who took five or six tablets would expect
to become ill.

"Because they are on the list of potential drugs of addiction the
stimulants committee monitors the prescribing and limits it to consultant
and paediatric child psychologists," he said.

"They (illegal users) assume that if they get somebody's prescribed
medication and they get five at a time they will get the same affect as the
illegal drugs."

Dr Hutchins said even more worrying was the risk of children trying other
drugs sometimes given to ADD sufferers.

Anti-depressants such as tofranil and clonindine have much more serious
side effects which on rare occasions can result in sudden death.