LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Ritalin: Drugs
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Ritalin (methylphenidate) is a popular prescription drug used to alleviate the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. Ritalin, manufactured by Novartis AG, is a central nervous system stimulant. On the continuum of stimulants, Ritalin is much stronger than caffeine but not as powerful as amphetamines. Ritalin has been a popular drug since it gained FDA approval in 1980.
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Ritalin is not addicting when taken as prescribed by doctors. Why this difference between Ritalin and cocaine? Ritalin is a pill that you swallow, so the drug takes longer to reach the brain. Cocaine is taken in high doses by injection or snorting. It floods the brain quickly with dopamine, which makes it dangerous and addicting.
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As a Schedule II substance, Ritalin has a high potential for abuse. When injected it may produce feelings of euphoria.10 Early reports of abuse in Sweden led to the removal of Ritalin from the Swedish market in 1968.11 The dramatic increase in prescriptions in the United States over the past decade has increased the potential for diversion from medical use.12 The DEA has collected reports indicating that adolescents who are prescribed Ritalin may give or sell it to their classmates who crush and snort the tablets.13 Ritalin is ... diverted through "Attention Deficit Scams" in which a parent or other adult takes a child they claim has ADHD to a number of doctors to obtain prescriptions for Ritalin. The adult then keeps the drug for his or her own use or to sell or trade for other drugs.14
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If parents suspect their child might be abusing Ritalin or any other prescription medicine or illegal drug, the DEA's Fuessner suggests having a good long talk. "One of the worst things you can do is bury your head in the sand, because the consequences can be very serious," she says.
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In his book Talking Back to Ritalin, psychiatrist Peter Breggin documents other side effects, which he claims have been confirmed by scientific studies but are ignored by the advocates of Ritalin. He states that Ritalin can retard growth in children by disrupting the cycles of growth hormone released by the pituitary gland. According to Breggin, the drug routinely causes gross malfunctions in the brain of the child. There is research evidence from a few controlled studies that Ritalin can cause shrinkage (atrophy) or other permanent physical abnormalities in the brain. And studies of amphetamine show that short-term clinical doses produce brain cell death, he says.
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Ritalin should be given cautiously to emotionally unstable patients, such as those with a history of drug dependence or alcoholism, because such patients may increase dosage on their own initiative. Chronically abusive use can lead to marked tolerance and psychic dependence with varying degrees of abnormal behavior. Frank psychotic episodes can occur, especially with parental abuse. Careful supervision is required during drug withdrawal, since severe depression as well as the effects of chronic over activity can be unmasked. Long-term follow-up may be required because of the patient's basic personality disturbances.
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