Ritalin is More Potent Than Cocaine
By Jean West
http://www.mercola.com/2001/sep/26/ritalin.htm

The children's drug Ritalin has a more potent effect on the brain than
cocaine.

Using brain imaging, scientists have found that, in pill form, Ritalin -
taken by thousands of British children and four million in the United
States - occupies more of the neural transporters responsible for the
'high' experienced by addicts than smoked or injected cocaine. The research
may alarm parents whose children have been prescribed Ritalin as a solution
to Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.

The study was commissioned to understand more about why Ritalin - which has
the same pharmacological profile as cocaine - is effective in calming
children and helping them concentrate, while cocaine produces an intense
'high' and is powerfully addictive.

In oral form, Ritalin did not induce this intense psychological 'hit'. But
Dr Nora Volkow, psychiatrist and imaging expert at Brookhaven National
Laboratory, in Upton, New York, who led the study, said that injected into
the veins as a liquid rather than taken as a pill, it produced a rush that
'addicts like very much'.

Interviewed in last week's Journal of the American Medical Association
newsletter, she said: 'They say it's like cocaine.'

Even in pill form, Ritalin blocked far more of the brain transporters that
affect mood change and had a greater potency in the brain than cocaine.
Researchers were shocked by this finding.

A normal dose administered to children blocked 70 per cent of the dopamine
transporters. 'The data clearly show the notion that Ritalin is a weak
stimulant is completely incorrect,' said Volkow. Cocaine is known to block
around 50 per cent of these transporters, leaving a surfeit of dopamine in
the system, which is responsible for the hit addicts crave.

But now it is known that Ritalin blocks 20 percent more of these
auto-receptors.

'I've been almost obsessed about trying to understand [Ritalin] with
imaging,' said Volkow. 'As a psychiatrist I sometimes feel embarrassed
[about the lack of knowledge] because this is by far the drug we prescribe
most frequently to children.'

However, it was still not clear why a drug that has been administered for
more than 40 years was not producing an army of addicted schoolchildren.
Volkow and her team concluded that this was due to the much slower process
of oral ingestion.

It takes around an hour for Ritalin in pill form to raise dopamine levels
in the brain. Smoked or injected, cocaine does this in seconds.

Dr. Joanna Fowler, who worked with Volkow on the project, said: 'All drugs
that are abused by humans release large quantities of dopamine. But
dopamine is also necessary for people to be able to pay attention and
filter out other distractions.'

But opponents of Ritalin, labeled a 'wonder drug' and a 'chemical cosh',
believe it may be addictive and has dangerous side-effects. Moreover, many
believe ADHD is a fraudulent title for a non-existent condition once put
down to the exuberance of youth.

Professor Steve Baldwin, a child psychologist from Teesside University, who
died this year in the Selby rail crash, campaigned against Ritalin. He
pointed out similarities between the drug and amphetamines as well as cocaine.

Mandy Smith of Banff in Scotland has a son of eight who was prescribed
Ritalin for nine months. 'I am astonished the British Government have
allowed this drug to be prescribed,' she said. 'It can destroy people's
lives. My son was a changed person when he took Ritalin. He was suicidal
and depressed.'

Janice Hill, of the Overload Support Network, a charity for parents of
children with behavioral problems, said: 'Now we have thousands of children
in Scotland taking a drug that is more potent than cocaine. What does it
take before the situation is thoroughly investigated?'

The Observer September 9, 2001


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DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT:

A majority of children with ADHD can be helped through the eating plan and
nutritional optimization. Diet and children's behavior has been linked for
decades, yet this is not addressed at all in traditional medicine.

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Non-Drug Treatment of ADD/ADHD
The Ritalin Wars Continue
Maybe Attention Deficit Isn't the Real Problem
Ritalin "On the Ropes"