Ritalin vs crack

E class. Although on a little side note, I was kind of surprised to find out that Schedule II substance along with prescription narcotics. Methylphenidate is a Schedule II controlled substance, and both production and distribution are designed to be tightly controlled. While Ritalin use has recently declined in the past few years, prescription patterns involving similar drugs such as Adderall have sky-rocketed, primarily due to the progression of the demand within the United States for ADD and ADHD medications.

In , 1. During that same year, use of methylphenidate and dextroamphetamine figured into 7, emergency-room visits in the United States alone. The U. While there is little evidence of physical addiction to Ritalin when used under medical supervision and correctly dosed and monitored, it can produce both tolerance and physical addiction when used recreationally to get high.

Ritalin takes the title as being more insidious than meth because it is legal and actually dealt out to children. The dangers of meth are well documented and meth is very illegal, while Ritalin is considered to be safe to the point you can find is in house-hold cabinets across the country, and parents giving them to their kids, often unaware of the dangerous effects that can result from the abuse of this substance.

Methamphetamine can be taken orally, smoked, snorted, or injected. This sensation only lasts for about a minute or two while the effects of meth can last from 30 minutes to 12 hours. Meth also has a high risk of dependency in users. If the user becomes dependent, they need more and more of the substance to feel the high. Methamphetamine withdrawal varies depending on the level of addiction and frequency of meth use.

It can be very difficult to deal with the mental anguish that you obtain from meth. Withdrawal from methamphetamine has been associated with depression. Once an individual stops using meth they can become extremely tired. Without the artificial source of energy, the person begins to feel uncomfortable and deprived of energy. Methamphetamine is a stimulant, and can cause irregular heartbeats. When the addict stops using the drug changes in heart rhythm may occur.

Ritalin withdrawal symptoms are most likely to be felt if you are taking a large dose of this medication. If you take a low or moderate dose, you are less likely to feel withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking Ritalin. Slowly tapering off over time can reduce your symptoms. So although Ritalin withdrawal is generally not life threatening, it can be uncomfortable.

It can be so uncomfortable that people may start taking the drug again in order to relieve the withdrawal symptoms. Even more terrifying is the fact that if a pregnant woman is taking Ritalin her baby may have withdrawal symptoms after it is born, and have already developed some level of physical dependency. Being without this medication after abusing it for long periods of time can create serious depression due to the lack of focus and energy, and the combination of other adverse health effects and withdrawal symptoms.

Again, with the lack of this stimulant being present there can be a chemical imbalance created that causes discomfort and lack of energy or enthusiasm.

As mentioned in health effects of Ritalin, this stimulant effects the heart and blood pressure in the body, so when someone abusing Ritalin regularly stops abruptly their heart rhythm may change and become even more irregular. The reason Meth wins out on this round is because anyone using meth even on a regular basis can experience withdrawals, and they intensify depending on the frequency and the amount of usage.

No doctor prescribes meth for a good reason. Ritalin, the often under-estimated and over-looked under-dog takes this fight for one simple reason, it is LEGAL. When comparing the adverse health effects caused by these to drugs, and the withdrawal symptoms, they are practically reflections of each-other as stimulants. Ritalin may not have some of the deterioration effect on the outer appearance, or the reputation from TV and media, but the fact that when abused it does the same kind of damage as meth can on the body is relevant.

Ritalin is still kept in homes everywhere while looked at as an innocent medication to aid with ADHD, and while it does help a lot of people with severe Attention Deficit, it can be easily abused. Alcohol v. Interestingly, at one time in U. This practice ended in December, with the Harrison anti-narcotics Act. Yes and no. Indians in Peru have long used coca, the leaf which when processed produces cocaine by chewing the coca leaves as a performance-enhancer and stimulant to help them in day-to-day tasks that require endurance and energy.

Like Ritalin, chewing coca leaves is stimulating to the central nervous system, but does not produce the pleasurable euphoria that the psychoactive alkaloid cocaine, derived from the same plant leaf, produces. The level of stimulation provided by stimulants like Ritalin used today for ADHD might be comparable to that of chewing a single coca leaf or that of drinking Coca-Cola with added cocaine.

It would not produce a euphoria or high, but would provide stimulation to the central nervous system. With the foregoing in mind, when treating ADHD, we conclude that Ritalin methyphenidate or amphetamines drugs such as Adderall, Concerta and others commonly used in treating ADHD should be used only as an absolutely last resort, if at all, rather than as a front-line form of treatment. Parents should exhaust all possible avenues of self-help and professional treatment options rather than casually treat themselves or their children with stimulant medications.

Site Search : search tips sitemap. Ritalin and cocaine are similar in structure, except that Ritalin is taken orally, which allows a more gradual absorption into the blood stream. Ritalin also depart from the body slowly, which makes it less addicting. It could still be said, however, that Ritalin and cocaine belong to the same family of drugs.

Though there is no pleasurable brain "rush" felt with stimulants as with cocaine, and therefore it is less of addicting, Ritalin is still the 4th most widely abused street drug. Retrieved from the Internet January 10, Barkley, R.

Medicating Kids. Frontline, PBS. The National Institute on Drug Abuse. Nigg, J. Pemberton, J. Cocaine Org.

Ratey, J. Hallowell, E. Center for Drug Abuse Research. Partnership for a Drug-Free America. Retrieved from the Internet July, Volkow, N. Is methylphenidate like cocaine? Studies on their pharmacokinetics and distribution in the human brain. PubMed, U. Arch Gen Psychiatry. Certificate validity: 04 Apr - Apr In the Spotlight. Psychiatric Labeling Labeling People. Adventure Therapy. Positive Steps and Interventions. Arts Therapy. Self Help Psychology - 16 Keys.

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