NEW DRUG ON CAMPUS: RITALIN

Hyperactivity Medication Emerges As A "Study Drug'' And A High Among Local
College Students

Ritalin, a drug commonly prescribed to treat hyperactivity in young
children, is now appearing at college, where it is being abused as both a
"study drug'' and a way to get high.

The drug's increasing availability among youngsters may be driving its
appearance on campuses, experts say. The amount of Ritalin being prescribed
in the United States increased sixfold in the first half of the decade,
according to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

"It's probably easier for someone to prod a friend for Ritalin than to go
out on the street and buy amphetamines,'' said Dr. Eric Heiligenstein of
the University of Wisconsin, an authority on the subject.

Experts caution it is difficult to quantify the extent of the usage and
they see little evidence of widespread abuse. Nonetheless, one in every
four of the nearly two dozen students interviewed on some local campuses
recently said they had either experimented with the drug or knew someone
who had. The students asked that their names not be revealed.

Some of the use is recreational, the quest for a mind-bending experience,
students said.

"Hey, you are in an era where prescription medications are readily given
out,'' said a senior at the University at Albany. "This is a psychotropic
drug, and students are curious so they take it to see what will happen.''

Many of those familiar with Ritalin's use said it is readily available from
friends for whom the drug has been prescribed.

"I took it once,'' said a UAlbany sophomore who attended a party organized
so everyone could experiment with the medication. "It was the worst drug I
ever took,'' she said, explaining that she had previously experimented with
Prozac, LSD, marijuana and cocaine.

It left her feeling panicked and confused for nearly seven hours, she said.

A UAlbany sophomore said his friend at Hudson Valley Community College
crushes the pills and sniffs the drug through a hollow pen. "He uses it
when he is playing video games and he's, like, so into it,'' he said. "He
is concentrating super-hard.''

The drug's power to enhance the ability to focus in some people is the
major reason for its popularity, students said. It is used on campus
primarily as a study aid.

"It's helped me unbelievably,'' said a senior art major at Skidmore
College. "I can read three times as fast, and I can soak it in a lot
quicker,'' the 21-year-old said.

A 21-year-old economics major at Skidmore said he has known people who used
Ritalin without a prescription since boarding school, "mostly to get
focused in terms of study.''

Students have long used stimulants, most notably amphetamines or "uppers,''
as recreational and study drugs, said Heiligenstein, head of psychiatric
services at the University of Wisconsin's health services .

Ritalin, or methylphenidate, is a psycho-stimulant made by Ciba
Pharmaceuticals and prescribed primarily to treat hyperactive children.

It is "an amphetaminelike drug,'' a stimulant that paradoxically tends to
increase the ability to concentrate and therefore decreases behavior
problems in children, according to Barry Reiss, professor of pharmacy at
the Albany College of Pharmacy.

Abusing Ritalin is dangerous, experts say. Among its side effects are
cardiac palpitations and sleeplessness. It has the potential to be
addicting if it is not used properly, Reiss said.

There is substantial controversy over even its prescribed use. Supporters
call it a useful tool for handling behavioral problems in children, but
critics say it is an over-prescribed and inappropriate substitute for good
parenting.

There is also growing medical acceptance of the notion that Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder can afflict adolescents and adults, who can
also benefit from Ritalin treatment.

Frank J. Doberman, clinical associate professor of pediatrics at Albany
Medical College, described the disorder as "a chronic health condition'' in
which roughly one-quarter of patients with the diagnosis may require
medication in adult life.

"Just because someone goes through puberty or goes to college, doesn't mean
the disorder goes away,'' Heiligenstein

The University of Wisconsin's health center writes Ritalin prescriptions
for roughly 80 to 100 students a year, a number unchanged over the last
five years, Heiligenstein said.

None of the college health centers contacted in the Capital Region said
they write such prescriptions. Students who take the medication generally
do so through outside doctors.

New York's regulations for dispensing the drug are among the most stringent
in the nation, and have sharply limited black-market availability,
according to state health officials.

"We have not heard anything in New York about abuse by college kids,'' said
health department spokeswoman Frances Tarlton.

But Doberman said health professionals who prescribe Ritalin for students
are aware of the risk that it will end up in the wrong hands.

"Students from elementary school onward are aware of fellow students who
take stimulant medication and they are aware of the effects of the
medication,'' Doberman said.

"At the college level, where you have students who understand that this may
help them concentrate or study when they are fatigued, they will frequently
seek out this medication,'' Doberman said.

In dispensing the drug, the University of Wisconsin warns users that giving
away the drug is a felony.

But the senior art major at Skidmore who uses it as a study aid said he can
always obtain Ritalin at little or no cost from friends who have a
prescription.

A business major at the college, who has a prescription but stopped taking
the medicine because it upset his stomach, said, "People would ask me for
it and I gave it away.''

Medical personnel at area colleges said Ritalin is barely on the radar
screen when compared with alcohol and and marijuana use.

M. Dolores Cimini of UAlbany's counseling center said research on campus
substance abuse found binge drinking to be the overwhelming problem,
practiced by some 57 percent of students.

Consistent with national results, the same survey also found marijuana to
be the next most significant problem, used by roughly 20 percent of the
students, according to Cimini, the center's coordinator for alcohol and
drug prevention.

Ritalin was lumped into a category of miscellaneous drugs whose usage was
less than 1 percent.

The survey was taken in 1990, before the explosion in Ritalin availability.

And Heiligenstein cautioned that it is difficult to quantify the problem by
traditional yardsticks.

"We've gone and looked at emergency-room reports and police reports, which
are the traditional ways of estimating abuse patterns in drugs, and it
doesn't show up there,'' Heiligenstein said.

The University of Wisconsin health center, he said, has only found two
cases of Ritalin abuse in six years.

But Heiligenstein, echoing accounts at school newspapers and on the
Internet, said students consistently tell the story of a fad that started
several years ago in the prep schools of New England and has spread to
college campuses nationwide.

Jeffrey Maloney, an addictions counselor at Siena College, said the issue
of Ritalin abuse has never come up at the monthly meetings of college drug
counselors from around the region, he said.

"But during finals or midterms or crunch-time academics, it wouldn't
surprise me that some kind of psycho-stimulant like Ritalin might be
used,'' Maloney said.

"It's not as prominent as pot,'' said a sophomore chemistry major at
UAlbany. "I haven't had people come up and ask, 'Pssst, you wanna buy some
Ritalin?' People shouldn't be making a big deal out of it -- but it is out
there.''