NEW BOOK PILL-ORIES JFK JR.

New York Post ^ | 7/03/03 | BILL HOFFMANN

[kattracks]

July 3, 2003 -- John F. Kennedy Jr. had plenty of experience with powerful drugs when he convinced his wife, Carolyn Bessette, to take anti-depressants - the hunky son of JFK was regularly popping Ritalin to control a severe attention-deficit disorder, a bombshell book reveals.

[Solamente]

How the hell did he get a pilot license?

[kattracks]

He was a Kennedy. The rules are made for us peons.

[Cacophonous]

John Jr. "remained on Ritalin for the rest of his life" after a doctor diagnosed him with the ADD and dyslexia and prescribed it after his dad's assassination, writes Edward Klein, author of "The Kennedy Curse." In an advance copy, Klein reveals that following the Nov. 22, 1963, tragedy, John Jr. became restless, easily bored and disruptive in school.

Of course he did; HIS DAD HAD BEEN KILLED. How about talking to the kid, maybe with a minister? The doctor that made this "diagnosis" and prescription should be hanged. Then he should have his medical license revoked.

This over diagnosis of ADD and ADHD, and pumping kids full of drugs is horrible. IN EVERY ONE OF THE SCHOOL SCHOOTINGS, THE KIDS THAT DID THE SHOOTING WERE EITHER ON, OR HAD RECENTLY BEEN ON, RITALIN OR SOME OTHER PRESCRIPTION MIND-ALTERING DRUG.

These drugs have much the same narcotic properties as heroin. College kids are using them to get high.

This is a serious issue.

[babble-on]

Ritalin = heroin? Do tell.

[Cacophonous]

These mind altering drugs have much the same properties as the stronger stuff, like heroin and coke. That's why the kids are buying it at colleges.

Here are a few telling links; the first is to a rehab center that treats Ritalin Withdrawal:

http://www.addictionwithdrawal.com/ritalin.htm

and another from the National Institute of Drug Abuse on...Ritalin Abuse:

http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofax/ritalin.html

[Cacophonous]

The bigger picture is the prescription itself. SO the kid was a restless and a bit of a behavior problem. Gee, what could have triggered that? Maybe the fact that his father, a fairly public figure (the President) was assassinated. Instead, determine the kid is ADD, and pump him full of drugs for the rest of his life.

The doctor was a quack.

[babble-on]

I read the websites, didn't see a comparison with the effects of heroin.

[Cacophonous]

I erred; it was cocaine, not heroin (like I know the difference). Both (cocaine and ritalin) are Class II narcotics, and the side effects are almost identical.

http://www.resultsproject.net/Cocaine_Ritalin_Connection.html

Here is a clip from a paper by an Aussie doctor on ritalin and ADHD; the link to the intire article follows (emphasis mine):

It is true that Ritalin and similar drugs can help with concentration. Ritalin is an amphetamine closely allied to 'speed'. In people under the age of puberty it has the paradoxical effect of calming and slowing down the cognitive process and thus enabling the child to concentrate. The problem is that if it is used for a long period of time it is highly addictive, as addictive as cocaine, working, like cocaine, on the neurotransmitter dopamine. The US National Institute of Health recommends that Ritalin should only be used for a maximum of 14 months and certainly never over the age of 12 or below six...

http://www.upliftprogram.com/article_adhadd.html

[Cacophonous]

Additionally, here is the official Marine Corps policy for its recruiters:

...The references discuss ADHD with regard to qualification/ disqualification for enlistment into the Armed Forces of the United States of America. Currently, applicants who have taken prescription medications such as RITALIN are medically rejected for enlistment in accordance with the references. For these individuals to be enlisted, they must have been taken off medication (e.g., RITALIN) by competent medical authority (not the applicant themselves) for a period of at least one year and been approved for a BUMED waiver. In some cases, it is not clear whether attention-deficit or some other learning disorder, or hyperactivity disorder was properly diagnosed, or whether the medication (e.g., RITALIN) was prescribed solely to enhance academic standing...

Here is that link:

https://web.mcrc.usmc.mil/SECTION/RE/NEW%20WEB/FROST%20CALLS/FC_%20FY/ALL%20FROST%20CALLS/fc044-98.doc

I don't what the other service policies are, but this alone speaks volumes.

[Cacophonous]

Post #10 is for your info...

[Jimmy Valentine]

Bump for this statement. Ritalin ia a "Class Two" narcotic which has to be prescribed by a physician.

There is no, and I mean absolutely "NO" standard diagnosis or symptoms that can be classified as ADD, etc.

This whole "Attention Deficit Disorder" nonsense is just a shuck and an excuse for poor parenting and/or teaching in school. This country is raising a generation of burgeoning drug addled incompetents who will never be anything but a burden on Society.

Regards,

[Cacophonous]

Thank you. I agree; the scary part is that public schools are starting to threaten parents who don't dope their kids with child abuse. I look at my little nephews - bright, active, intelligent little fellows - and it makes me angryt to think that an incompetent teacher with minimal skills and patience would try to dope them up so they are zombies.

And of course, other problems down the road....thankfully, their parents (my sisters) will not let that happen.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Being a little bit of a generalizer this morning aren't we. Ritalin is a legitimate drug when properly prescribed after proper diagnosis. Is that alway done? No. Are all children with ADD the victims of bad parenting? No. Raised two children without drugs had good friends who were as lucky and knew bad parents who used doping. I will apologize for you. "Jimmy Valentine is sorry that he spoke in absolutes about all cases on drug use that he has not properly researched." There now don't you feel better.

[Conspiracy Guy]

UPDATE
Being a little bit of a generalizer this morning aren't we. Ritalin is a legitimate drug when properly prescribed after proper diagnosis. Is that alway done? No. Are all children with ADD the victims of bad parenting? No. Raised two children without drugs had good friends who WERE NOT as lucky and knew bad parents who used doping. I will apologize for you. "Jimmy Valentine is sorry that he spoke in absolutes about all cases on drug use that he has not properly researched." There now don't you feel better.

[babble-on]

there's a pretty big difference. I have tried cocaine, though not heroin, and I would compare cocaine to the combination of too much coffee and a good mood.

Heroin, from what I can glean, is more like being in a dream that you never want to come out of, and when you do come out of it you're in a nightmare so you need more heroin.

Not that I would want my kid addicted to either one, of course, but there supposedly is some subset of kids who actually really benefit from Ritalin. That doesn't mean its not over-prescribed, I grant you, but its over the top to say that every kid on Ritalin is a potential homicidal maniac.

[Cacophonous]

You're missing the point. I've never done drugs, so i don't know the difference between heroin, coke, meth, crank or weed. Don't know, don't care to know.

The point is, over-diagnosing a condition, and over-prescribing a drug, is going to have disastrous effects. I have no love of the kennedys, but for a doctor to look at a kid whose acting up after his father was shot, and say he's ADD, is quackery. And it happens all the time.

[Conspiracy Guy]

COME ON NOW. Use more words like ALL and EVERY. SARCASM OFF. Good point.

[babble-on]

Maybe it happens all the time, but this particular example is from 40 years ago, when doctors were still calling amphetamines "pep pills" and barbiturates were "sleep aids" or "mother's little helper".

My son has more problems than most kids sitting still in school. The teacher and staff counselor suggested a Ritalin type drug saying that it helps a lot of kids. We tried it, it didn't help my son at all, and we took him off of it in less than ten days with their blessing. But they still say that for some kids it is a godsend.

[babble-on]

i drafted a full nasty riposte before I realized you were on my side! Do you want to see it?