http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a3820d3032dd3.htm
FreeRepublic.com "A Conservative News Forum"
[
Last |
Latest Posts |
Latest Articles |
Self Search |
Add Bookmark |
Post |
Abuse |
Help!
]
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
Ritalin: Violence Against Boys
Drug is being used to sedate active, young boys
Massachusetts News
Sidebar: Ritalin Basics November 1--If Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer were in a
school in Massachusetts today, they’d be drugged with Ritalin, according to many
psychiatrists and other experts. The drug is being used to sedate active, young
boys because the teachers are unable to relate to them. It is in the same
psychoactive category as cocaine. Somewhere between 29,000 and 48,000 children
in Massachusetts’ public schools are operating under the influence of Ritalin —
and they are almost all boys. The income to the drug company is between $30 to
$60 per month per medicated child.
A prominent psychiatrist tells Massachusetts News that one of the key problems for children today, which may be causing the increase in the number of children diagnosed as mentally ill, is the increase in fatherless families. He is Dr. Peter Breggin, director of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology in Bethesda, Maryland, who published an article in The Boston Globe last month on its editorial page under the headline,"Kids Are Suffering Legal Drug Abuse." However, it did not mention the gender problem. Breggin wrote: "In a society that’s supposed to accept and even value differences, drugging shy children reflects an extreme of enforced conformity... "We are the first adults to handle the generation gap through the wholesale drugging of our children. We may be guaranteeing that future generations will be relatively devoid of people who think critically, raise painful questions, generate productive conflicts, or lead us to new spiritual and political insights."
Dr. Breggin tells Massachusetts News that most children who have been labeled as having "Attention Deficit Disorder," don’t get enough attention from their fathers. The parents may be divorced. Or the dads are preoccupied with their work or other things. "The ‘cure’ for these children is more rational and loving attention from their dads," says Breggin. "Young people are nowadays so hungry for the attention of a father that it can come from any male adult. Seemingly impulsive, hostile groups of children will calm down when a caring, relaxed and firm adult male is around."
Many of these children are receiving Ritalin from their school nurse. It is supposed to help these hyperactive youngsters focus on their work. Yet whether the drug is even needed isn’t clear; doctors and scientists are split on the issue. And many critics worry that mothers and fathers, schools and doctors may be medicating kids who only need traditional discipline and love — not a pill.
New York Times Writes About Massachusetts’ Problem
The New York Times wrote a story earlier this year about the problem that these drugs are causing for overworked school nurses in Massachusetts. Janet Douglass, a director of the School Health Institute at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, said that in a recent visit to a nearby elementary school she had been struck by the overall level of medication. "‘I think they give out more psychotropic medication than a psych hospital did when I did psych," she said. "Not just Ritalin, but heavy-duty psychiatric medications."
The Times reported that a survey of Boston schools showed that the nurses had given about 200,000 doses of medication. "But school officials said the survey was imperfect and the actual number of doses was probably higher." The exact number of Massachusetts children on Ritalin isn’t known because no one apparently keeps track of the prescriptions except the drug makers, and they’re not talking.
Abuse in New England Prep Schools
The abuse of Ritalin as a recreational drug is also a problem. It was first seen in New England prep schools, according to Dr. Eric Heiligenstein, head of psychiatry for the University of Wisconsin Health Services. "Ritalin abuse was first noticed at New England prep schools where access is easy because so many students have Ritalin prescriptions — often not warranted by medical need." According to the DEA, at least one in 30 Americans between ages 5 and 19 has a Ritalin prescription. Because it has nearly the same chemical makeup as cocaine and speed, Ritalin is often abused. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports that Ritalin "ranks in the ‘Top 10’ controlled drugs stolen from doctors and pharmacies." Kids crush the Ritalin pills into powder and snort it or inject it.
Last fall, four youths allegedly stole 27 bottles of pills from the nurse’s office at Westford Academy, reported the Boston Herald. Sixteen of the bottles contained Ritalin. Other bottles held the depressant Lorazepam. In 1996, a girl at Duxbury High School overdosed on Ritalin and was hospitalized. With more public schools handing out Ritalin to more and more kids, there’s more drug abuse. Some students even sell their Ritalin prescriptions.
A Harvard undergraduate, "David Green," says that he frequently snorted Ritalin to help speed through his homework. "In all honesty, I haven’t written a paper without Ritalin since my junior year in high school," said Green. "I even wrote my Harvard essay on it. It keeps you up when you’re tired, and makes you much more aware of what you’re doing. Although there are certain risks involved, I think it’s worth it." Another Harvard student, Nick Grossman, said that he knew many Ritalin abusers at Harvard. "It was largely a prep school drug, and it spread out from there," he said. "I know a lot of people who do it."
A recent study by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley — a study of 500 children over 26 years — found that Ritalin is basically a "gateway" drug to other drugs, in particular, cocaine. Lead researcher Nadine Lambert, as reported in the Wall Street Journal, concluded that Ritalin "makes the brain more susceptible to the addictive power of cocaine and doubles the risk of abuse."
Dr. Breggin says: "Our society viewed with loathing those who ‘pushed’ stimulant drugs on children. Yet today, there are more children taking Ritalin and amphetamine from doctors than ever received them from illegal pushers."
The Problem — Not The Solution
Dr. Breggin tells Massachusetts News: "These drugs can make you psychotic. They can cause the same problems they’re supposed to treat — inattention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior." Meanwhile, other sources show that the number of Ritalin users nationwide keeps going up every year — about 4 million kids today, up from 1 million in 1990. Production of Ritalin is way up, as well — a 700% increase since 1990, according to the New York Times. Dr. Breggin, author of Talking Back to Ritalin and co-author of Talking Back to Prozac, says that, "Ritalin does not correct biochemical imbalances — it causes them. Pediatricians, parents and teachers are not aware of these hazards because a large body of research demonstrating the ill effects of this drug has been ignored and suppressed in order to encourage the sale of the drug. … Parents and teachers and even doctors have been badly misled by drug company marketing practices. Drug companies have targeted children as a big market likely to boost profits — and children are suffering as a result."
More than 90% of Ritalin’s market is in the United States, which says something about how Ritalin is viewed by health officials in other countries, said Breggin. Ritalin was banned in Sweden in 1968 because it was abused. Ritalin is rarely prescribed in Britain. In March, the United Nations advised the World Health Organization to investigate the use of Ritalin.
Causing Tragic Violence?
Ritalin and related drugs pushed in public schools are being watched more
closely now for tragic reasons. While a direct link between violent behavior and
the use of Ritalin has not been proven, observers have concerns. Consider the
following:
• Shawn Cooper, a 15-year-old sophomore at Notus Junior-Senior High School in
Notus, Idaho, fired a shotgun at his fellow students in April. Cooper was on
Ritalin.
• Thomas Solomon, a 15-year-old at Heritage High School in Conyers, Georgia,
shot and wounded six classmates in May. Solomon was on Ritalin.
• Kip Kinkel, a 15-year-old at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon,
killed his parents and two classmates and wounded 22 other students last year.
Kinkel was on Ritalin and Prozac, an anti-depressant.
• Eric Harris, one of the Columbine High School killers, was on the
anti-depressant drug Luvox.
• Rod Matthews, 14, beat a classmate to death with a baseball bat in 1986 in
Canton, Massachusetts. Matthews had been on Ritalin since the third grade.
Yale researchers, as published in the March 1991 Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology, found in their study of Prozac at least one 12-year-old who started having nightmares. What about? The boy dreamed of killing his classmates at school until he himself was shot. The researchers took the boy off Prozac and he recovered. Then they put him back on the drug, apparently thinking that the anti-depressant could not have caused the nightmares. Once drugged again, the boy started to have acute suicidal thoughts and tendencies. The Yale researchers don’t talk about this now, said Breggin.
Ritalin Basics According to the PDR, the Physician’s Desk Reference, "Ritalin
is a mild central nervous system stimulant and is used in the treatment of
attention deficit disorders." The PDR warns that patients with a history of drug
addiction or alcoholism should be given Ritalin with caution "because such
patients may increase dosage on their own." PDR further states that, "Long-term
abuse can lead to tolerance and mental dependence with varying degrees of
abnormal behavior."
Ritalin side effects may include an inability to fall asleep and stay asleep, as
well as nervousness. Other side effects include: loss of appetite, abdominal
pain, weight loss and abnormally fast heartbeat. Some of the less common side
effects include: chest pain, dizziness, headache, hives, jerking, pulse changes,
skin rash, Tourette’s syndrome, severe and multiple twitching and writhing
movements.
Ritalin should not be used in children under six years old, says the PDR,
because the "safety and effectiveness in this age-group have not been
established." PDR goes on to state that "suppression of growth has been reported
with the long-term use of stimulants (the category of which Ritalin is
included)."
Terrible side effects
Dr. Breggin is more blunt. In his 1998 book, Talking Back to Ritalin, he
lists the following potential side effects of the drug:
• Decreased blood flow to the brain, an effect recently shown to be caused by
cocaine where it is associated with impaired thinking ability and memory loss.
• Disruption of growth hormone, leading to suppression of growth in the body and
brain of the child.
• Permanent neurological tics, including Tourette’s syndrome.
• Addiction and abuse, including withdrawal reactions on a daily basis.
• Psychosis (mania), depression, insomnia, agitation and social withdrawal.
• Possible shrinkage (atrophy) or other permanent physical abnormalities in the
brain.
• Worsening of the very symptoms the drug is supposed to improve, including
hyperactivity and inattention.
• Decreased ability to learn.
The Food and Drug Administration classifies Ritalin (methylphenidate) as a
Schedule II substance. These substances include: amphetamines, cocaine,
morphine, opium and barbiturates. Ritalin is more regulated in other countries
compared to the United States. America consumes five times as much Ritalin as
the rest of world combined. In addition to the ongoing investigation by the
World Health Organization, the U.N. International Narcotics Control Board has
issued two official warnings about America’s apparent dependence on Ritalin.
While about 4 million U.S. kids regularly take Ritalin, the Drug Enforcement
Administration estimates that about 8 million kids and adults will be on the
drug in 2000. (About 90% of all Ritalin prescriptions are for kids.) The average
Ritalin script runs between $30 and $60 a month. Most health insurance plans
provide coverage for Ritalin and Attention Deficit Disorder treatment.
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
Top |
Last ]
To: Leisler
I wonder when someone will do a study on what kind of offspring the Ritalin takers produce. I suspect the study will scare us, but what resolve will we have to quit drugging a normal youngster who needs more outlets for his energy, and a school system that doesn't want anything but a robot.
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 1 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Leisler
Another reason to take your children out of the bankrupt public schools!
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 1 |
Top |
Last ]
To: blam
Zero tolerance for drugs at school! Prescribe coke and speed and marijuana and ritalin and get rid of the problem! (NOTE: heavy sarcasm)
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 3 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Leisler
You have to understand. That's how the gays and femis brainwash them into being unmen and weak. It's been used all throughout history only with different means. Notice how many of these get older and then one day explode in violence. That's why, Ratilin. It builds up stress to an impossible level in males.
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 1 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Leisler
Well remember there doing if for the children, Really! I mean ALGORE, Bill, Hill and the NOW folks said so didn't they. After all guns cause violence not drugged kids.
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 1 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Leisler
Well remember there doing if for the children, Really! I mean ALGORE, Bill, Hill and the NOW folks said so didn't they. After all guns cause violence not drugged kids.
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 1 |
Top |
Last ]
To: pacpam
Speaking of robots. I remember reading somewhere that the Nazis put themselves at the top, but ranked some whites even lower. Especially the Poles and the Russians. Anyways, the Aryans would run everything, and have all the "thinking" jobs. The Poles and russians would only be trained for trades and servent work. What I am getting at, is that we have an entrenched elite. They know that their position and lifestyle is based upon the backs of the workers, as in all courrupt times. Drugs are just one part of the control mechanism. It is evil through and through. The only part that scares me is how people can just la-de-da go along with it.
As to the children of these children, I think the crack epidemic of the late 80's should start giving us some information. God help us.
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 2 |
Top |
Last ]
To: capecodder
BTTT FYI
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 8 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Leisler
I work in a pediatrician's office, and we have a fair number of youngsters on Ritalin. Some of them have serious underlying medical problems, but there are others whose mothers never seem to need the drug in the summer months. It's only when school starts that they are desperate to refill their prescriptions...
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 1 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Leisler
PUSHERS
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 1 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Wife of D28Man
It's only when school starts that they are desperate to refill their prescriptions...
That's because most schools won't allow a kid who has been diagnosed as a "problem" to attend without being on medication.
Another reason we homeschool.
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 10 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Hotline
"Seemingly impulsive, hostile groups of children will calm down when a caring, relaxed and firm adult male is around."
Caaaaaareful, Doc! You are coming awfully close to directly challenging a key tenet of feminist dogma!
<);^)~
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 12 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Leisler
Vote republicrat for more of the same. The drug companies are big contributers to law makers, so these are the laws in force.
The next law is you have to send your childern to school, a captive experiment.
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 1 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Largun
It really boggles the mind...
We are spending millions for a "war on drugs" while at the same time stuffing heavy drugs down the throats of kids who are in the most crucial stage of growing.
What in the world is going on? You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that the potential for damaged and diseased minds caused by this program is beyond belief.
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 5 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Born in a Rage
Heads up. :-)
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 3 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Leisler
I did some research on this in grad school, and I really believe the reasons so much Ritalin is prescribed in the US are:
1. Parents who don't have time to discipline, or believe that disciplining their children will harm the childrens' "self-esteem". Children who aren't disciplined rarely learn self-discipline either.
2. Children starting school too young (i.e. 4 years old), before they can or should be sitting still for the better part of the day.
3. Too much television, especially in the preschool years. Television is passive, and generally the focus changes extremely rapidly - the children don't learn to concentrate on anything for a long period of time, and they expect to be constantly entertained.
I personally know parents who never disciplined their toddlers. When the tykes got older (school age) they drove their parents and the teachers nuts. However, the parents were actually relieved to have the kids diagnosed ADHD, because that meant their bad behavior wasn't Mom & Dad's fault.
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 1 |
Top |
Last ]
To: amom
Good post. The wholesale prescription of Ritalin will one day be regarded along the lines of bloodletting and leeches.
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 16 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Ronin
This is just the start. You should check to see what other kinds of drugs they are giving children, especially boys. That bill that was defeated everywhere it was tried so that schools could give "counseling", "birth control pills", and abortion advice without the parents consent had a lot more to it than was said to the public. There were other drugs that would be allowed such as drugs to deprive boys of the ability to reproduce if used for too long or in too high doses. It also sterilized girls or caused their body, after long usage, to automatically abort an unborn child. They got these from government tests.
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 15 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Leisler
Somewhere between 29,000 and 48,000 children in Massachusetts’ public schools are operating under the influence of Ritalin
Absolutely stunning! Does anyone remember that many mentally ill students when you were in school? It must mean that our schools now would look like "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" if they weren't drugged.
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 1 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Leisler
Well, its the old Liberal philosophy, if ya can't kill them before they're born, (or in some cases, while they're being born) Drug em until they're 18 and kick em out. No wonder society is going nuts!!
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 1 |
Top |
Last ]
To: blam
According to the article, some of the worst Ritalin abuse is happening at private schools. Public school and home-study students also share in the problem; it's across the board.
The problem began overwhelming the schools with the Behavior Modification theories that were pushed on Education students in the '70s. Appeasement took the place of discipline. When non-drug strategies (manipulation, give 'em candy rewards like with your dog) didn't work, the next step was drug therapy.
The article is good as far as it goes. I'd like to know how many of these Ritalin kids have parents who have or have had drug problems, and can't cope with normal adolescent behavior (not always a pretty sight). Do a lot of these kids have undiagnosed vision, hearing, spatial problems which have been made worse by technology? Example...you try reading a cramped, poor copy of a textbook page under flourescent lights!
As long as schools are in the business of teaching kids how to fit into this BRAVE NEW WORLD instead of how to think, drugs are going to be the answer of choice.
It's sick.
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 3 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Benoit Baldwin
Thank you, BB.
Recently a friend walked into the wrong conference room in a hotel outside of Boston.
Noting that the room was crammed with tables from different drug companies, my friend asked one of the table reps if there was a medical conference scheduled.
The answer? "This is a conference for school medical and administrative personnel. School mental health services are expanding...."
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 9 |
Top |
Last ]
To: Leisler
Lead researcher Nadine Lambert, as reported in the Wall
Street Journal, concluded that
Ritalin "makes the brain more susceptible to the addictive
power of cocaine and doubles the risk of abuse."
[
Reply |
Private Reply |
To 1 |
Top |
Last ]
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
[
Top |
Latest Posts |
Latest Articles |
Self Search |
Add Bookmark |
Post |
Abuse |
Help!
]
ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND
MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION
PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS
OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR
LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND
COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH
YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.