5 ADHD Drug Abuse Results in High School Kids Being Hospitalized

Some consequences of the temptations of ADHD medications that DO NOT come on the warning label…

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Prescription stimulant abuse is on the rise among high school and college students. A subgroup of prescription drug abuse is the abuse of ADHD medications. Abuse of ADHD drugs is becoming commonplace for high school and college students, but the consequences for high school students can be severe, arguably more severe than the other two most commonly abused drugs: alcohol and marijuana.

All this might seem foreign and bizarre for parents who grew up 20 years ago when the abuse of ADHD drugs was essentially nonexistent. Nor was prescription drug abuse an issue when most of today’s parents grew up.

To capture a sense of the scale of prescription drug abuse consider the results of a 2008 study:
Past-year prevalence rates among twelfth grade students documented that prescription drugs were among the most abused illicit substances: 9%- 10% reported Vicodin abuse, 4%-5% reported OxyContin abuse, 8%-9% reported amphetamine abuse, 6%-8% reported sedative abuse, and 5%-7% reported Ritalin abuse in each of the past several years (Johnston et al. 2007). Thus, prescription drug abuse has reemerged recently as a major and costly public health threat (Birnbaum et al. 2006).1

Now that prescription drug abuse is being labeled as a “public health threat”, my fears from 2005 before all these surveys and studies were published appear to have been confirmed. My view then was that I did not want to have my son in high school on meds that other kids might want. I did not want to present him with that temptation.

This study clearly articulates the confusion parents are likely feeling which I felt in 2005: “prescription drug abuse presents unusual difficulties for clinicians for two reasons: first, the medical system is the origin of the substances in many cases; and second, the boundary between therapeutic use, misuse, and addiction can be quite vague.”1

This unclear boundary between use and abuse of the ADHD medications was exactly what had me confused and annoyed in 2005. Those “nagging questions” in a previous blog are now vexing. To me, it seems that relative silence seems to surround these issues in the public. Unhappily, the research data shows these concerns about ADHD drug abuse is on a scale that is increasingly hard to over estimate.

What exactly is the risk?

During 2004 there were almost 8,000 visits to the emergency room from methylphenidate (Ritalin or Concerta) and methylphetamine (Adderal) over dose. Disturbingly, the rate of 12 to 17 year olds sent to the ER for the abuse of Adderal, Ritalin, Concerta and other ADHD medications was higher than that of those 18 and older. This is the case even though those from age 18 to 25 had a higher rate of nonmedical use of Adderal, Ritalin or Concerta.1 This was according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) latest Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) Report in 2006.

Another disturbing fact was that more than one drug was commonly abused in addition to the ADHD medications. This polydrug use may increase the health risks. In short, these are powerful drugs and that is why their distribution is controlled.

Parents who are not informed of this risk becoming unsuspecting distributors of controlled substances or their children become (unknowingly, perhaps?) prescription drug dealers with their doctors as their ignorant suppliers and parents as unwitting accomplices. What are the consequences for this and how common is this occurrence?

Read my next blog post for information on this….

1ADHD Medication Misuse by Those Aged 12 to 17 Results in Higher Number of Visits to Emergency Department. (Sep 22, 2006) US Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane Rm 12-105 Parklawn Building
Rockville, Maryland, 20857, US

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