Posted on 05/04/2003 11:14:23 AM PDT by IJCR2
It transforms the lives of many 'hyper' children, but as pupils peddle it at school, a new drug nightmare is unfolding.
Simon, 14, is a hit with the girls. At most afternoon breaks, he can be found surrounded by a posse near the netball court at their comprehensive school in northern England.
They want his drugs, but not to get high. They want Ritalin to suppress their appetite and help preserve their wafer-thin frames. Simon is popular with the boys, too. However, they want only to get high, crushing the tablets and snorting a substance chemically similar to cocaine for a cheap buzz.
Ritalin is prescribed by doctors to calm tens of thousands of children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). But it also serves as a potent amphetamine increasingly craved by children.
Simon steals Ritalin from his hyperactive brother's supply at home, selling scores of pills to friends in the playground and to drug dealers in the town centre for £1 each.
His parents have no idea the government-approved drug can be abused. 'Quite a few have tried it. Most of the lads "bomb" it by smoking it, some mix it up with glucose and snort it. It makes them laugh,' said Simon.
This is the alarming reality in an increasing number of British schools, where children as young as six are becoming hooked on a psychoactive stimulant sold illegally by child dealers. Parents, teachers and pupils said last week that Britain was on the brink of an explosion of amphetamine abuse among children and they warned of a generation dependent on the 'prescription pad'.
An Observer investigation has uncovered glaring lapses in the way the drug is dispensed to children and stored throughout schools. Ritalin is being left in unlocked drawers in schools, while dinner ladies and secretaries dispense it.
Already thousands of children may have used Ritalin as a recreational drug, according to the Overload Network which investigates the over-prescription of drugs.
Demand has become so intense in areas that children prescribed Ritalin are routinely bullied for their drugs. One pupil in a Middlesbrough secondary was recently found hanged from a clothing peg by his vest. His daily dose of Ritalin had been stolen.
Mounting concern over the ease with which pupils not suffering from ADHD are able to obtain Ritalin has prompted the Home Office to approve a pilot scheme in Darlington, educating schools in the dangers of failing to store the drug securely.
Yet the Government continues to resist calls for an inquiry. So far Durham police have taken the lead in investigating the scale of Ritalin abuse in schools. Officers investigated a comprehensive in County Durham. Out of 300 pupils in one year, 30 were using the drug. Some had paid as little as 50p. It followed the arrest of three girls under 14 for dealing Ritalin in a secondary school in the area.
Evidence of Ritalin abuse has also been uncovered in schools in London, Sussex. Kent, Hampshire, Yorkshire and Scotland.
One secondary teacher from Lowestoft, Suffolk, said Ritalin was being sold illegally on its grounds. Of 210 pupils in her year, six have been prescribed Ritalin. Yet the number of pupils who had tried it was far higher. 'The fact is that kids are being given drugs and passing them on illegally. Children are taking drugs out of the home and selling them on the streets.'
Peter Bennett, a former policeman in West Yorkshire and now an expert on child behaviour, said he had picked up considerable anecdotal evidence suggesting Ritalin was being used as the 'new speed'. 'There is a trade in this, it's gone far beyond supposition.'
Campaigners fear Britain will follow the US, where misuse has reached epidemic proportions. One in 30 people there between five and 19 has a prescription for Ritalin, which is among the top 10 most stolen prescription drugs.
'We have had a wake-up call from the States; we must protect our children,' said Janice Allen, chief executive of Overload Network. 'The latest users we have detected are girls who are taking it as an appetite suppressant to stay thin.'
That the drug has powerful side-effects is beyond dispute, according to some parents. Mandy Simpson's son Damien was prescribed Ritalin when he was seven. His behaviour changed overnight from happy-go-lucky to depression, which culminated in him trying to kill himself with a screwdriver.
Simpson asked a hardened drug user of 15 years to roadtest Ritalin and handed him two pills. His verdict shocked her. 'He said it was the best thing since sliced bread. And then begged me for more.'
Her findings complement research from Professor Steve Baldwin, who was investigating Ritalin before he was killed in the Selby train crash two years ago. His study of 100 children found destructive behaviour, self-mutilation, depression, insomnia, and disturbances in mood and vision.
Yet Ritalin has never been investigated for long-term effects. Fears of an abuse epidemic are supported by a huge rise in Ritalin prescriptions over the past decade.
Bennett, who has been studying the growth of Ritalin use, now believes there is a pupil in every classroom being fed the drug. Often several months' supply are collected at once, meaning there could be up to 1,000 tablets in a house at any time, creating a tempting supply for dealers.
Yet many parents and psychiatrists say the drug has transformed the behaviour of children, allowing them to perform well at school and preventing family break-up.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: 'We study and monitor any abuse of prescription drugs and, if this particular abuse appears to be problem, we will look into it.'
A doctor prescribed it, so it has to be perfectly safe forever, right? /sarcasm
In the US this would be a felony.
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