Ritalin Nation: Are We Killing Our Children?

The Rutherford Institute ^ | 6/14/04 | John W. Whitehead

[wagglebee]

Methylphenidate, a schedule 2 substance, has a high potential for abuse and produces the same effects as cocaine or the amphetamines. Binge use, psychotic episodes, cardiovascular complications and severe psychological addiction have all been associated with methylphenidate. —U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Background Memo (2004)

This year, approximately six million children—roughly one out of every eight—will take Ritalin for what is termed “attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder” (ADHD), a condition that was once labeled hyperactivity. However, the drugs that are prescribed for ADHD are cocaine-like stimulants. And according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the human nervous system cannot differentiate between cocaine, amphetamines and methylphenidate (Ritalin).

Since ADHD hit the mainstream in the 1980s, prescriptions for Ritalin have skyrocketed. And over the past three years, there has been a 23 percent increase for all children, including those under 5 years of age. However, as the DEA reports, not only is Ritalin a dangerous narcotic, it also has numerous, troublesome side effects: difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite, irritability, nervousness, stomach aches, headaches, blurry vision, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, ticks, hypersensitivity, anorexia, blood pressure and pulse changes, cardiac arrhythmia, anemia, scalp hair loss and toxic psychosis. Other rare side effects include abnormal liver function, cerebral arteritis, leucopenia and sometimes death.

Recent evidence also ties Ritalin and other methylphenidate derivatives to abnormally violent behavior in the young people who take such drugs. For example, in 1998, 15-year-old Kip Kinkle of Oregon, after taking methylphenidate and Prozac, killed four people, including his own parents, and wounded 22 more. Eric Harris, one of the Columbine High School killers, masterminded the killing of 12 students and a teacher while on similar drugs. He and his partner then shot themselves.

These and other violent killings by young students have now been linked to the burgeoning legalized prescription drug market that has invaded America’s public schools.

Rod Matthews, a 14-year-old Massachusetts youth who had no history of violence but was placed on methylphenidate, soon developed extreme psychological problems. In October of 1986, Rod wrote: “My problem is I like to do crazy things. I’ve been lighting fires all over the place. Lately, I’ve been wanting to kill people I hate, and I’ve been wanting to light houses on fire. What should I do?” Shortly thereafter, Rod lured a fellow student into a forested area and beat the young man to death with a baseball bat. Tried as an adult and convicted of second-degree murder, Rod became the youngest inmate in the Massachusetts prison system. After he was arrested and taken off methylphenidate, however, his violent thoughts stopped.

If Ritalin is so bad, why is it being used on schoolchildren? The sad fact is that our public schools and parents have been duped by the psychiatric and drug industries. “A quintessential truth was unearthed about the educational experience children encounter today,” write Thomas G. Whittle and Linda Amato in Freedom magazine (Spring 2004). “Psychotropic drug makers, parasitic on the school system, have created a lucrative market for their own enrichment by ‘pathologizing’ childhood behavior as mental disorders, with pseudo medical labels obediently supplied by the very psychiatrists who prosper from this corrupt arrangement.”

It has been proven that Ritalin can cause especially severe reactions in children under six years of age and should not be used for this age group. Despite this fact, the number of stimulants for children aged two to four has increased 200 to 300 percent between 1991 and 1995.

Another alarming fact has recently surfaced. Adolescents are increasingly giving and selling their Ritalin medication to schoolmates and friends who are taking it orally, crushing the tablets and snorting Ritalin powder like cocaine. It is no wonder, then, that Ritalin is often referred to as “Kiddie Cocaine.”

Ritalin is also closely related to the illegal street drugs methamphetamine—street name “crystal meth.” Ironically, our society imprisons people for manufacturing drugs similar to the drugs physicians commonly prescribe to millions of our school children.

But does Ritalin really help settle down hyperactive children? A comprehensive follow-up study at Montreal Children’s Hospital reveals that the behavior of hyperactive children did not differ significantly from the behavior of non-hyperactive children after taking Ritalin for five years. “Although it appeared that hyperactive kids treated with Ritalin were initially more manageable, the degree of improvement and emotional adjustment was essentially identical at the end of five years to that seen in a group of kids who had received no medication at all,” the report stated.

And does taking Ritalin help our children academically? According to Dr. Mary Ann Block: “It may surprise many to know that studies have found that children who take amphetamine-type or other mind-altering drugs do not perform better academically. No studies indicate enhanced academic performance from these drugs.” In fact, academically, the schools are worsening. Despite ever-increasing sums spent on education and drugs for children, the U.S. literary rate plummeted from fifth in the world among nations in the 1960s to 49th by 1999, its lowest rating ever.

What can we do? First, our government should immediately step in and place a moratorium on Ritalin and similar drugs. No child should be subjected to such medical and psychological abuse. This means our President and Congress should make Ritalin and related drugs the top priority in the so-called war on drugs. This will mean investigating those who advocate and profit from such drug-related activities. And, if need be, instead of the current policy of protecting the drug industry, some of these companies should be put out of business.

Second, with very few exceptions, no one should force their child to take psychotropic drugs. In fact, it has been established that environmental toxins, mercury poisoning and allergies often affect behavior and academic performance and create the symptoms that are now called ADHD. Consult a physician before even considering such dangerous drugs.

Third, do not allow your child to be threatened with a psychiatric label such as ADHD. He or she may merely be a normal hyperactive child or may be suffering from a learning problem or other non-drug-related problem.

Finally, we as a nation must move away from the concept of drugs of any kind as an answer. By doing so, we have opened the door to manipulation by unscrupulous drug marketers who would dope us up or drug us for a profit. If we as a society really mean that we are anti-drug, then let it start at home and at school.

[festus]

Worse than that, a school superintendent I knew, reported that it was on the order of 80% males that were being drugged.

SEXUAL DISCRIMINATION !!!!

[Nick Danger]

The "big bad drug companies" model does not explain the sexual disparity in the prescribing of these drugs. Were this phenomenon profit-motivated, we would expect to see equal numbers of boys and girls being urged to take such medication.

That's not what we see. What we see is an education system selectively drugging male children, quite often the brightest ones. Drug companies will obviously rush to make a buck given an opportunity to do so, but it is doubtful that they are where the impetus for this is coming from.

There are many other measures taken by our education system to make schools hostile or unproductive for male children. The drugging is just one aspect of it. It may well be the worst. But when we have gotten rid of the drugs, we will not have solved the problem that was causing the drugging.

There is some very serious social engineering going on in the schools. People need to get a lot smarter about it. Going off half-cocked about doctors and drug companies is pointing people in the wrong direction. The problem is the people who are teaching the teachers... who they are, and what their agenda is. If you have a son in school, pay very close attention to what they are doing to his head. They do not mean him well.

[beaversmom]

They (the public school my son attended) tried to wear us down when my son was in kindergarten and then also when he moved on to first grade. Finally I had to take him out of the first grade class after a couple of months and put him in a Christian school. The badgering by the school was getting unbearable and making me very depressed. We decided it would be best if he re-did kindergarten. Thank goodness we did that because he was one of seven in his class. He didn't do perfectly but he did a lot better the second go around. In his kindergarten public school class there were over 25 kids. His first grade class had almost 30. Unfortunately we can't afford to send him to a full day of private school and this particular school only goes to kindergarten any way. I'm going to try and homeschool come fall.

[Indie]

The drug companies are also making a fortune off of new Rx drugs, many of which are much more dangerous than good old fashioned codeine [paragoric] for things like coughing and diarrhea, even in children. Even simple aspirin has been villified for a rare syndrome which occurs far less frequently than the number of overdose deaths from Tylenol.
[I guess they couldn't make enough money off of aspirin]

Nothing happens by chance. Follow the money. That is what the WOD is about as well.

http://www.leap.cc

[Severa]

Geez I must have gotten lucky then. I've NEVER had that problem with my son's school or the doctors *knock on wood* He's in a special school program for autistic children here in VA Beach called SECEP and they've done wonders for him.

[Taliesan]

Children who aren't taught to focus on a task between the ages of 1 and 3 won't be able to focus at age 7.

[91B]

That's the truth of the matter. Most of these kids have an age-old problem called B-O-Y. Mostly female teachers in elementary schools can't tolerate their boisterous (boy-sterous) behavior and convince their parents or school psychologists (who then talk to parents) that the kids need medication. It would be a scandal if it happened to girls, but the feminist establishment cares more about pretending that girls get short shrift in schools than they do about boys being chemically maimed. Curriculum reform took PE and playtime out of the schoolday (to a large extent), at home these kids sit in front of a TV or computer screen, and they eat tons of sugar. Why is anyone surprised that they are hyper?

[booann777]

Hi.. I've posted on these threads before so let me summarize:

Ritilin is NOT the only medicine used for ADD/ADHD... anti-seizure (not amphetamines) are commonly used, and Wellbutrin is prescribed also, together or not.

ADD/ADHD is oftentimes over diagnosed, as are many aliments. It takes the keen eye of a "shrink" NOT A TEACHER, evaluate the situation.

Nay sayers of ADHD/ADD are uninformed. Child rearing has LITTLE to do with this disrupting (at best) disorder. Parents with kids that are afflicted cannot just raise their kids in a "normal" way. How about "Torrets" (sp) syndrome, also an involuntary disorder. Would you blame the parents and wonder why they just can't make the child quit saying bad words and having other symptoms? "What on earth is wrong with these parents? Lazy and not willing give enough attention?"

ADHD/ADD students cannot be taught in a "normal" way. They do need attention at home and special learning techniques at school (more active, less rote.)

These kids are hard to handle, immature, have little impulse control, are often compulsive, depressed, etc. Many have legal problems due to their lack of impulse control. Part of the depression comes from stigma attached by teacher and parents that they are lazy. In fact, ADHD/ADD people (adults too) have more than average intelligence. Their brain "sparks" differently than "normal" kids, raised only by "good parents"...

Of course I refer to "real' cases of the disorder, not school/teacher mandated. If the child is a real disruptor, there are many private schools, or even home schooling as an option.

my two cents... ba7 (ok... ten cents!!)

[pageonetoo]

Even simple aspirin has been villified for a rare syndrome which occurs far less frequently than the number of overdose deaths from Tylenol.

" People who take too much of the popular painkiller acetaminophen can suffer liver damage, particularly if they are alcoholics, according to a new study reported today. `" -www.asam.org/pressrel/tylenol.htm

My doctor placed my on asperin therapy (baby asperin a day) for blood pressure. Good science, and the result of careful research. I wish the same could be said for Ritalin, etal...

[martin gibson]

...but the feminist establishment cares more about pretending that girls get short shrift in schools than they do about boys being chemically maimed...

DING DING DING...We have a winner!!!

[FranApple]

 

When these Ritalin children become young teens they are given adderall.

Some of those teens know that they don't need the medication they sell it to their friends.

These doctors know that they are medicating children with drugs not tested on that age group, I know because they did that to my step-sons. You would be shocked at the amount of children and teens with frequent in-house Psychiatric Hospital stays.

When my daughters now in their early thirties were young we never heard of such things. That was in the 70s and 80s.

In the mid 90s my step-sons had some very real problems that were caused by their mother constantly involving them in custody issues. The doctors gave them Ritalin and Wellbutrin and finally added Prozac. Prozac caused violent tendancies in both boys they ended up in the hospital again and one of them had to go to Paradise School for Boys. They put the label crisis child on him. This all tore my family apart.

The Good Drugs Guide

adderall (commercial amphetamine) 30mg capsules
used extensively by US fighter pilots

FranApple

[IrishCatholic]

Bump for later.

[petercooper]

Since ADHD hit the mainstream in the 1980s, prescriptions for Ritalin have skyrocketed.

This sentence needs to be reworded: Since Ritalin was invented in the 1980's, and b/c schools receive alot more funding for "disabled" kids, ADHD cases have skyrocketed.

[Choose Ye This Day]

Good for you and J.J. I'm glad he is doing well.

We had two different "doctors" in two different states (TN and UT) try to foist Prozac on him. He's doing okay, still non-verbal (and probably always will be).

[wagglebee]

Since ADHD hit the mainstream in the 1980s, prescriptions for Ritalin have skyrocketed.

This sentence needs to be reworded: Since Ritalin was invented in the 1980's, and b/c schools receive alot more funding for "disabled" kids, ADHD cases have skyrocketed.

You left something out: A age-old behavior problem (spoiled, bratty, selfish kids) was recategorized as a medical condition, ADHD. Coincidentally, the "discovery" of this "widespread epidemic" occurred simultaneosly with the invention of Ritalin. Most interesting is the fact that ADHD has has no empirical medical diagnosis (i.e. blood test, etc.); but, surprise, surprise, ADHD is quickly "cured" when you drug these children into zombies with Ritalin and similar "miracle" drugs.

If you ever want a really good laugh, call the Neal Boortz show and tell him your kid has ADHD and how much Ritalin has helped, its one of his favorite topics to go off about.

[FrankR]

If you have a wild animal you can't control or contain...you shoot it with a tranquilizer dart.

When the bleeding hearts convinced the governments to lock up parents who discipline their children, the little darlings got free reign to be little monsters.

So then the "drugs-solve-everything" crowd stepped and called acute-brattiness, "ADHD".

"Spare the rod and make the drug companies rich.".