ADHD Drugs are No Learning Tool—
New Study Reveals the Fraud of “Kiddie Cocaine”
Kelly
Patricia O’Meara
book, Psyched Out: How Psychiatry Sells Mental Illness and Pushes Pills
that Kill.
For
decades, ADHD drugs, like Ritalin and Adderall, have been called “kiddie cocaine” because the
drugs produce similar effects as cocaine. Now, finally, research proves
that just like cocaine doesn’t make a genius, the prescription psychiatric drugs
prescribed to “treat” ADHD don’t make children smart.
A
recent study of 4,000 students in Quebec, spanning an 11 year period, compared
the academic outcomes of students who had taken ADHD drugs to students who did
not. The study, which was published by the National Bureau of Economic Research,
a nonprofit economics research firm, showed that not only did the male students
who had taken the mind-altering drugs not perform better than those who had not
been drugged but, in fact, the academic performance of those who took the drugs
was actually worse.
The
study further revealed that along with the worsening academic performance there
were other adverse effects associated with those taking “kiddie cocaine,”
including increased unhappiness, deteriorating familial relationships, increased
anxiety and depression in girls.
Of
course, to many the research is, well, a no-brainer. The Drug Enforcement
Administration, DEA, long ago, had very succinctly described “kiddie cocaine.”
According to the DEA, Methylphenidate (Ritalin) and
Amphetamine (Adderall) “produce
discriminative stimulus effects similar to cocaine, will substitute for each
other and for cocaine in a number of paradigms, and chronic high-dose
administration of either drug in animals produces psychomotor stimulant toxicity
including weight loss, stereotypic movements and death, and in clinical studies,
they produce behavioral, psychological, subjective and reinforcing effects
similar to cocaine.”
The
DEA, which classifies ADHD drugs as Schedule II (most addictive) and in the same
class as morphine, opium and cocaine concludes, “this data means that neither
animals nor humans can tell the difference between cocaine, amphetamine or
methylphenidate when they are administered the same way at comparable doses. In
short, they produce effects that are nearly identical.”
Additionally,
with the “nearly identical” effects of Ritalin, Adderall and Cocaine, there are
other known serious, even
life-threatening, adverse reactions to ADHD drugs which include:
abnormal heart rate/rhythm, depression, hallucinations, homicidal ideation,
insomnia, irritability, hostility, mania/psychosis, seizures, stroke and sudden
death to name a few.
Side
effects of ADHD drugs include: abnormal heart rate/rhythm, depression,
hallucinations, homicidal ideation, insomnia, irritability, hostility,
mania/psychosis, seizures, stroke and sudden death to name a few.
In
fact, it is no secret just how serious ADHD drugs are, as there have been no
less than 31 drug regulatory agency
warnings issued by eight countries, and the Food and Drug
Administration’s, FDA, Adverse Event Reporting System (MedWatch) reveals more
than 14,000 adverse reactions connected to ADHD drugs between
2004-2011.
Despite
this long history of dangerous and detrimental effects associated with the use
of “kiddie cocaine,” the alleged ADHD mental illness diagnosis and drugging
increased at epidemic numbers under the false belief that the drugs would
improve attention, the child’s ability to focus and generally control impulsive
behavior—a kind of drug-induced-sit-down-shut-up-and-you’ll-learn-more
theory. As this study reveals, that theory has not translated into the
promised academic improvement and has scientists baffled.
Perhaps
understanding that there is no scientific basis
for the alleged diagnosis of ADHD is a good place to start when
considering the study’s embarrassing results. Additionally, it may be
helpful to know what the pharmaceutical companies don’t know
about the ADHD “treatments” they market.
For
example, Novartis, the makers of Ritalin don’t know how Ritalin works… “the mode
of action in man is not completely understood, but Ritalin presumably
activates….” And Shire Pharmaceuticals, the makers of Adderall report,
“the mode of therapeutic action in ADHD is not known. Amphetamines are thought
to….”
So
nobody knows what the alleged mental illness, ADHD, is and nobody knows how the
mind-altering drugs work in the brain as “treatment.” Given these facts, it
isn’t difficult to understand why scientists are confused. Most would agree that
trying to figure out why drugs, which no one knows how they work, don’t produce
the desired results for a mental illness that no one knows what it is, would be
difficult at best.
While
it is understandable for scientists to be scratching their heads about the
results of the study, it doesn’t take a brain scientist to wonder why no one is
asking the most obvious question—is it possible that the ADHD drugs actually are
responsible for the worsening academic outcomes?
Moreover,
adding to the above the serious life-threatening adverse reactions associated
with ADHD drugs, wouldn’t scientists begin to question why the drugs continue to
be prescribed? With one in five American boys being diagnosed with ADHD and
prescribed “kiddie cocaine,” this question is no longer just
academic.
Read
the full article here: http://www.cchrint.org/2013/07/11/adhd-drugs-the-fraud-of-kiddie-cocaine/
Kelly
Patricia O’Meara is
an award winning investigative reporter for the Washington Times, Insight
Magazine, penning dozens of articles exposing the fraud of psychiatric diagnosis
and the dangers of the psychiatric drugs – including her ground-breaking 1999
cover story, Guns & Doses, exposing the link between psychiatric drugs and
acts of senseless violence. She is also the author of the highly acclaimed
book, Psyched Out: How Psychiatry
Sells Mental Illness and Pushes Pills that Kill. Prior to
working as an investigative journalist, O’Meara spent sixteen years on Capitol
Hill as a congressional staffer to four Members of Congress. She holds a B.S. in
Political Science from the University of Maryland.
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