You are wrong. I know where of I speak as I am an ED physician andi have treated patients with OD and chronic abuse of Methamphetamine, Ritalin, and other amphetamines. They all affect the dopaminergic, and sertonine receptors of the brain. Some are slightly more potent then others, but not to the huge and varied degree you state.
Thats serotonine receptors.
"I am an ED physician andi have treated patients with OD and chronic abuse of Methamphetamine, Ritalin, and other amphetamines. They all affect the dopaminergic, and sertonine receptors of the brain. Some are slightly more potent then others, but not to the huge and varied degree you state."
With all due respect, I'm going to have to disagree with you. I am no doctor, but I do have a neurologist in the family and I and one of my daughters have been prescribed stimulant medications. I am currently taking a small daily dose of Concerta, which as you know is time release Methylphenidate. I am also an adviser on our local drug court committee and as a public defender I work with drug addicts all the time. I have done quite a bit of research on stimulant medications used to treat ADHD and quite a bit on addiction as well, especially addiction to methamphetamine which is the hard drug most often abused where I live. Moreover, I must admit that when I was younger I took cocaine, amphetamines and methamphetamine several times, so I can speak from some experience as to how these drugs make people feel.
With respect to effects of methamphetamine and amphetamines on dopamine and seritonin levels, from what I have learned amphetamines and methamphetamine are much more potent when it comes to releasing dopamine, and that the jury is still out as to whether Methylphenidate has any appreciable effect on seritonin. (See
http://www.jneurochem.org/cgi/content/abstract/68/5/2032 ;
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/288/5463/11a ) These drugs may work on the same parts of the brain generally and may be much more similar than they are different, but the differences, however subtle they might seem on paper, result in a far different "high." The high dopamine levels caused by amphetamine and methamphetamine use produce a euphoric feeling far greater than that caused by Ritalin. This is one of the main reasons why meth is so much more addictive than Ritalin. It feels good. It makes you feel like your team just got done winning the big game and you're all ready and raring to go party. Ritalin does not tend to produce the same energy level or the same feeling of well being. In fact, taking too much can make people feel awful.
A couple of months ago I forgot that I had already taken my Concerta and I took another dose. It was one of the most miserable days I have had in a long time. I felt terrible. I just had to "ride it out" all day until the stuff finally wore off. I was speeding like crazy, but it sure wasn't fun. I've done that before with Ritalin too but Ritalin wears off in a couple of hours so it's not as bad. It still wasn't a pleasant experience though.
With meth, you can take enough to make you speed like a rocket but it still feels good. You feel lucid, confident, energetic, and usually happy. It feels good to feel like you have enough energy to tackle the world. The only adverse side effects for me that I can remember from the relatively smallish doses I took were that it made me too talkative and made me grind my teeth if I took too much, that and it lasts too long. Too much Ritalin on the other hand made me feel anxious, twisted my stomach into knots, and made simple tasks like reading and just thinking in general seem like monumental tasks.
I realize there are kids out there who abuse Ritalin. I cannot imagine why except perhaps that they are just really bored. It's not a fun drug.