Aderall Or Nothing: Anatomy of the Great Amphetamine Drought 611
pigrabbitbear writes "To prevent hoarding of materials and their potential for theft and illicit use, the Drug Enforcement Agency sets quotas for the chemical precursors to drugs like Adderall. The DEA projects the need for amphetamine salts, then produces and distributes the materials to pharmaceutical companies so that they can produce their drugs. But with the number of prescriptions for Adderall jumping 13 percent in the past year, pharmaceutical companies claim that the quotas are no longer sufficient for supplying Americans with their Adderall. The DEA contends that their quotas do, in fact, meet demands, and that any shortages arise from pharmaceutical companies selectively producing only certain, typically name-brand and more expensive versions of ADHD medications."
Hmmm, lets sell 2,000 guns to criminals (Score:4, Interesting)
so that we can track their killing sprees, but not let enough medication be produced for law abiding citizens. Smart move.
So whose actually producing the precursor salts? (Score:5, Interesting)
When did the DEA get into the chemical production business?
Re:Considering how often Adderall is abused... (Score:4, Interesting)
Considering how those that are actually being prescribed Aderall and need it to function are the most likely to be affected by this, I do.
I read somewhere that only about two in an hundred need ADHD drugs to function (which is still arguably a significant number in a 300m population) but that it's way overprescribed, to upwards of one in five in US schools. (The report did not say how this statistic translates to the general population, so it could be misleading.)
So, just spitballing here, but maybe the shortage could be at least partially alleviated by prescribing the drugs less casually. For instance, I give you personal permission to take the drugs the school prescribed for my kid, which I declined. (The school looked at her and said she's ADHD and recommended drugs. The doctor agreed to prescribe with no testing, which made me suspicious. I had her formally tested, and she's not ADHD. She's severely dyslexic. I'd like to personally thank the school system and medical community for screwing that up.)
Note, I am not one of those loonies who believe the drugs are unnecessary. You say you need them to function, and I believe you. But clearly at least some are taking them who don't need to, and that has to negatively affect demand to some degree.
ADHD (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Considering how often Adderall is abused... (Score:4, Interesting)
I agree. And since that's all the DEA does, it should be put down.
Re:Ah, central planning. (Score:1, Interesting)
Well, one thing we should mention here is that the government is interfering with the market for amphetamines, a highly addictive substance. Because of DEA regulations, there are only a few companies that are even licensed to produce these drugs. The free market corrects this by having bikers whip up large batches of crystal meth.
Re:Considering how often Adderall is abused... (Score:5, Interesting)
As far as addiction goes, what of it? People are addicted, physically addicted, to coffee, and other substances all the time. It's not the addiction but the psycho-physico-emotional harm that it might do that is the problem. No one worries that people with bipolar disorder are "addicted" to their meds.
Re:Ah, central planning. (Score:2, Interesting)
I think Adderall is just straight amphetamine, not methamphetamine. No extra methyl group there.
Re:You know... (Score:2, Interesting)
That's a common misconception. It's not so much an attention deficit, as an attention disregulation. Someone with ADD can sometimes "hyperfocus" on a highly stimulating and engaging activity (like, say, video games), because they're craving that stimulation. That doesn't mean they don't have ADD, just that they like video games.
The medication helps with being able to focus on things that aren't quite so stimulating.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Ah, central planning. (Score:5, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Ah, central planning. (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't disagree that ADHD is probably over-diagnosed. The symptoms can easily mistaken for laziness or general immaturity, and with kids it can be particularly difficult to get it right. There is a stunning lack of counseling ADHD children on how to deal with their symptoms. I wish someone had talked to me candidly about why I didn't fit in, why I literally couldn't sit still, always got in trouble, etc. Might not have helped my behavior much but it may have saved me some years of anguish wondering why I couldn't get it together. I got bad grades in Middle School, but I was smart, and grasped the material just fine. I just didn't do any homework. I know. All kids hate homework and blow it off now and then. Not me. I just didn't do it. Period. Couldn't, and I didn't understand how anybody else did. It was not normal. The only reason I passed most classes was that I would cheat in middle school. We'd often "exchange papers" to grade each other in 6-7th grade or so. I would keep my own, had a red pen filled with black ink, and just filedl in the answers when they were called out. I did this in one class or another almost every day. That's right. I cheated my way through 6th grade. Like I said, not normal.
I do sympathize with your perspective. In most cases, I think medication should wait until kids are a little older and their grades actually matter. Make sure kids who have strong symptoms early on know what is happenning and why, and let the teachers know too. Then, maybe in high school start medication if it is necessary. The logistics alone are awful for dosing a kid properly with a highly psychoactive chemical. A kid's metabolism changes monthly, and their mass may double in three years. And I think it's important to let a kid explore their own native psyche, regardless of whether it is a "normal" psyche.
To work as a professional, I rely on Aderall. Some might call me a junkie, based on my steep performance drop-off when I go unmedicated. I assure you, this isn't withdrawal and addiction. I don't even want to take the pills. I won't take them on weekends, vacations, or holidays, and I don't suffer any physical ill-effects for it. What happens when I don't is a return of my normal everyday symptoms. The shortages in supply, whatever the cause, are very real, and it is REALLY frustrating to call about 5-6 pharmacies to see if they can fill my prescription every month. Sometimes I just have to wait, and I quite frankly have better htings to do than call pharmacies all afternoon and drive halfway across the county to get my prescription only mostly filled, because they were down to their last 40 pills at the pharmacy
Hope I don't come off as obtuse or anything. I encounter a lot of people that think ADHD is a made-up disorder and there's no legitimate reason to take medication. I don't think you fall into this category, but I am sure there are some reading who do. Just trying to spread the word.