Millions of Americans, most of them children, take Ritalin every day because they have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), which prompts an important question: Why is such a powerful substance—one that shares many characteristics with cocaine and other amphetamines—so widely prescribed to young children?

In "Why Ritalin Rules," an article appearing in the April/May 1999 issue of Policy Review, consulting editor Mary Eberstadt draws on the past decade's professional and popular literature on the topic and uncovers four main reasons.

For one, the way Ritalin (clinically known as methylphenidate) works is widely misunderstood by the public. It improves attention span the same way amphetamines do—by stimulating the central nervous system—and has the same potential adverse effects, including weight loss and insomnia. Numerous medical studies, including laboratory tests with animals, have shown virtually no difference between cocaine and methylphenidate, she says. In fact, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) classifies Ritalin as a Schedule II drug, subjecting it to the same strict controls as morphine.

Another reason for Ritalin's rise, Eberstadt says, is the "extraordinary political and medical clout" of the support group CHADD—Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder. The group's history includes its 1995 petition to the DEA to reclassify Ritalin as a Schedule III drug, which would subject it to fewer controls and make it easier to obtain. It also includes the fact that CHADD accepted nearly $900,000 in donations during the early 1990s from the pharmaceuticals giant that manufactures Ritalin.

A third reason for Ritalin's popularity involves the ever-changing definition of ADD itself, Eberstadt says. Medical experts tend to rely on diagnostic tests that focus almost exclusively on behavior, but "the distinction between what is pathological and what is not remains unclear." As a result, many physicians use a positive response to Ritalin to confirm a diagnosis of ADD, even though almost anyone—child or adult—becomes more focused and less aggressive on the drug.

But the primary reason for all those prescriptions? "Compliance," Eberstadt says. "One day at a time, the drug continues to make children do what their parents and teachers either will not or cannot get them to do without it: Sit down, shut up, keep still, pay attention."

The Heritage Foundation

Washington, April 12, 1999

   The Encarta Dictionary defines autopsy as "The medical examination of a dead body in order to establish the cause and circumstances of death."   The early Egyptians performed autopsies.  An autopsy was performed on Julius Caesar.  In Florida, the legislature has instructed the medical examiner to "make or have performed such examinations, investigations, and autopsies as he or she shall deem necessary or as shall be requested by the state attorney." 

   Autopsies are often performed in Florida when a person's death appears to have been caused by an accident, a crime, suicide, or a sudden death when the person was in apparent good health and when there is no apparent cause.

   The Florida Medical Examiners Commission analyzed 168,900 Florida autopsies done in 2007.  They concluded that prescription drugs have replaced "street" drugs like cocaine and heroin as the leading cause of drug abuse deaths in Florida. 

   These researchers found that the rate of deaths caused by prescription drugs was three times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined.   Here are some of the findings:

   ·   Cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines caused 989   deaths.

   ·   Legal opioids like Oxycontin caused 2,328 fatalities.

   ·   Drugs containing benzodiazepines, such as Valium, were implicated in 743 deaths.

   ·   Alcohol was the most commonly occurring drug, appearing in the bodies of 4,179 of the dead.

   There is no question that this prescription drug epidemic is nationwide.   The Drug Enforcement Administration found that the abuse of prescription drugs has increased 80% in the past six years.  The Drug Abuse Warning Network warns that the number of emergency room visits attributed to drug abuse has increased 153% in the past 12 years. 

   This problem is rapidly growing in Florida.  Many of us believe that this is in large part because, unlike 38 other states that have passed laws allowing for the monitoring of prescription drugs, the drug companies have blocked enactment of this legislation in Florida.   

   This has allowed Florida to become the place where not only citizens of Florida, but many people from adjoining states, can come and easily obtain prescription drugs which they can either abuse or sell a portion to others or both.  There is a medical clinic in Pinellas Park, Florida that offers a coupon that assures the patient that if you come to their clinic, for a fee of $350 you will leave with prescriptions for OxyContin and Xanax.  Subsequent visits are only $250 to get these prescriptions refilled. 

   You don't have to meet a shady character in a dark alley and risk arrest or other dangers-like buying counterfeit prescription drugs.  You can go to a "doctor" and take your prescriptions to a real drugstore and get drugs that create the same effects as heroin.  No wonder drug abusers flock to these clinics.

   The Florida Department of Law Enforcement believes that many of the people going to clinics like this one don't use the drugs themselves, but sell them for between $3,000 and $10,000 on the street.  This makes it easy to pay the $350 to the clinics.

   There are a number of other "clinics" in the Tampa Bay area where similar prescriptions can be obtained with the same ease.  These clinics are the source of many of the prescription drugs that are killing our children and ruining countless lives.

WHY DON'T THE AUTHORITIES STOP THESE CLINICS?

   A valid question is, "Why don't the police, the medical licensing authority or agents of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) stop these doctors?"   Unfortunately, under our current laws, if the medical doctor actually performs tests and concludes that the patient is truly suffering pain, he can legally prescribe these drugs.

   Only when the medical doctor starts dispensing these narcotics without an exam or, in some cases, without ever seeing the patient, or if the medical doctor just decides that he will become a drug dealer, can the authorities really move against him. 

THEY ARE NOT A VALID TREATMENT FOR MOST TYPES OF PAIN

   More and more medical studies and doctors are concluding the same thing, that these narcotics are not effective in most people if used for the treatment of pain for more than six months.  These "painkillers" actually are "pain increasers".  Since these narcotics are not treating or curing the cause of the pain but merely blocking the pain signals, they benefit few and harm many.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

   Most of us do not occupy positions of apparent power.  We are not members of Congress or senior officials in law enforcement.  We are just regular people trying to raise our children well, pay our bills and live a happy and productive life.

   How are we going to do something that the federal, state and city authorities either cannot or will not do about these medical doctors who are really just drug dealers? 

   The answer is very simple.  In our society, this drug dealing can only operate in darkness.  As neighborhood organizations have learned, if a group of residents just go stand and look at drug dealers and call attention to them, they will leave the neighborhood. 

   This solution has been used for centuries to right wrongs.  It was used by Gandhi to free India and by Martin Luther King, Jr to bring about real social change.  If we shine the light on these drug dealers, like cockroaches they will scatter.

   This week on Larry G's Prescription Addiction Radio Show, Lynn Locascio, whose son had become addicted to prescription drugs, and a dozen other ordinary citizens decided it was time to call attention to this drug dealing medical doctor in Pinellas Park.  They marched outside the drug dealer's office and carried signs informing the public that a drug dealer was in their neighborhood and this drug dealer must be shut down. 

   Did they shut the drug dealer down with one march?  No,

but if enough of us legally assemble in front of the drug dealer's office and educate our fellow citizens that these are the people that are killing our children and destroying lives, their clientele will go elsewhere and without clients, so will the drug dealer doctor.

   Nelson Mandela spent many years of his life in a South African prison.  However, from prison he is credited by many with having forced an end to apartheid in South Africa with his words and strength of character.  He was once asked what he hoped to accomplish from prison.  He said, "And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same."

   No sane person is in favor of these drug dealers.  By each of us shining our light on this evil, we are empowering others to do the same and, because most of us are good people, they will join us and our collective lights will become a laser that eradicates this evil from our midst.   

JOIN US

   Send Larry G an email at prescriptionaddictionradio.com or send me an email at steve@novusdetox.com and we will help you participate with us or organize your own protest against the drug dealers in your neighborhood.

Novus Medical Detox Center

By Steve Hayes, Director

July 17, 2008

The United States government is pushing for even more research in this area, something that explores the effects of “regular� activity as opposed to the “runner’s high� achieved after a really intense workout. In other words, can normal people like us who aren’t athletes benefit from exercise in the area of drug and alcohol use prevention?

Drug Addiction Rewards and Exercise Rewards

It’s all about the reward system in the brain. After prolonged periods of drug and alcohol use, this is one part of the brain that suffers long-term, if not permanent damage. It’s harder to feel happy or even normal without drugs once you’ve grown dependent on getting high. This means that events that “normal� people may be able to take in stride seem more like a mountain than a molehill to those with opiate addiction issues. The stress of the incident can make an addict want to use, to manually trigger the reward system in the brain to numb the drama. Since you can’t always avoid triggers during opiate detox, exercise is another possible solution.

Clues That Exercise May Fight Drug Addiction Relapse

Here’s what the Associated Press says researchers have found to support the idea that exercise can be an important part of a relapse prevention program:

*  Rats were less likely to ingest amphetamines if their cages had running wheels, suggesting exercise stimulated a reward pathway in the brain to leave them less vulnerable to the drug’s rush.

*  In people, exercise acts as a mild antidepressant and relieves stress. Depression, anxiety and stress increase risk of alcoholism, smoking or drug abuse.

*  Volkow is intrigued that attention deficit disorder and obesity both involve problems with the brain chemical dopamine, one system that drugs hijack to create addiction.

*  Baby monkeys who do not play enough in childhood have problems controlling aggression when they’re older. The most aggressive tend to have defects involving the feel-good brain chemical serotonin — and binge-drink when researchers offer them alcohol.

*  Back to rats, physical activity increases production of growth factors and stem cells in key brain regions important for learning and mood; increases formation of blood vessels; and strengthens communication networks between brain cells.

Exercise, Schmexercise… Bring Out the Bleach

No, not to sanitize the rig. Personally, when I feel triggered or feel any of the emotions that used to precipitate a run, I get out my arsenal of cleaning supplies and a bucket of old rags and get to work. And I don’t mean light dusting. I’m talking pulling everything out of the closet and reorganizing in earnest, pulling the refrigerator and stove away from the wall to scrub the floors beneath, getting on all those projects that tend to get put off during normal life. It’s a workout with a tangible result at the end.

 The latest research released by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is a positive indicator that The Century Council's continuing efforts are working. For nearly twenty years, The Century Council, a national not-for-profit funded by distillers, has developed and implemented proven and effective programs and public awareness campaigns to fight underage drinking.

According to the newly released report Underage Alcohol Use: Findings from the 2002-2006 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, lifetime alcohol consumption rates among 12 to 20 years olds have shown a statistically significant decrease of 4% from 56.2% in 2002 to 53.9% in 2006. Additionally, past year consumption rates declined significantly among 12-14 year olds and 15-17 year olds (8% and 7%, respectively) from 2002 to 2006; past year alcohol consumption among 18 to 20 year olds remained relatively unchanged during this time period.

"The SAMHSA research is a clear sign that our collective efforts are working. The significant decrease in lifetime alcohol consumption indicates that America's youth are delaying the consumption of their first alcoholic beverage. While encouraged by the progress, there is still work to be done to keep our nation's young people safe. We will continue our efforts to make sure the consumption rates continue to decline," said The Honorable Susan Molinari, Chairman of The Century Council.

The Century Council commissioned a research study in 2003 which identified family and friends as the leading source of alcohol for underage drinkers - 65% of youth who consumed alcohol in the past year reported family and friends were the leading source from which they got the alcohol they consumed. The new data from SAMHSA suggests only about 28% of underage drinkers cite family and friends as their source of the last alcohol they consumed - a significant decrease in the role of family and friends over the past few years. While the SAMHSA study highlights much progress has been made our work remains unfinished.

The Century Council continues to be actively engaged in stopping youth access to alcohol through a variety of initiatives including our "65% Campaign" called Are You Doing Your Part?, and We Don't Serve Teens. These initiatives have distributed millions of materials to retailers and parents, and have reached countless more through public service announcements and earned media. Other ongoing education initiatives include Ask, Listen, Learn: Kids and Alcohol Don't Mix, a program in partnership with Nickelodeon, and Girl Talk; Choices and Consequences of Underage Drinking, an initiative most recently launched at two-time Olympian Julie Foudy's Sports Leadership Academy, and Parents, You're Not Done Yet, a program that encourages parents of incoming college freshman to continue to discuss underage drinking after they leave for school.

About The Century Council

The Century Council is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking and is funded by distillers including Bacardi U.S.A., Inc.; Brown-Forman; Constellation Brands, Inc.; DIAGEO; Future Brands LLC; Hood River Distillers, Inc.; and Sidney Frank Importing Co. Inc. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia and chaired by Susan Molinari, The Century Council is a leader in the fight to eliminate drunk driving and underage drinking and promotes responsible decision making regarding beverage alcohol. The Century Council develops and implements innovative programs and public awareness campaigns and promotes action through strategic partnerships. Established in 1991, The Century Council's initiatives are highlighted on its website at http://www.centurycouncil.org.