What is right about a society that actively pursues and prosecutes its adult population for the use of a dangerous drug while, simultaneously, promoting and prescribing the same drug to millions of her children?  Absolutely nothing. But that is exactly what is happening.

If a child in your family or in a family you know has been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder/hyperactivity (ADDH), then you know a child who is more than likely taking Ritalin or Adderall.  Those drugs are two peas from the same amphetamine pod.  Both are powerful and both are addictive.  Yet we give them to our children like M&Ms.  Every day.  Let that soak in for a minute.  Okay.  Now let’s talk about it.

Back in the old days, the phrase "speed kills" had merit.  It served to caution those who took amphetamines – long-distance drivers, college students, the bored – of the destructive nature of this powerful drug.  And by and large most amphetamine users heeded that message.  It appears now the new message is "speed heals."  Could this be one time when shooting the messenger makes sense?

Peter R. Breggin M.D. thinks so.  As director of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology, he testified before the U.S. House of Representatives on September 29, 2000.  "My purpose today," Doctor Bregggin said to those members of Congress, "is to provide to this committee, parents, teachers, counselors and other concerned adults a scientific basis for rejecting the use of stimulants for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or for the control of behavior in the classroom or home."

But to everyone who thinks the use of amphetamine-grade stimulants to control our children is a current phenomenon, or controversy, think again.  It was back in the 50s when stimulant drugs were first approved for child behavior control.  And between then and the 70s, Dr. Breggin further testified, "there have been periodic attempts to promote their usage, and periodic public reactions against the practice.  In fact" he added, "the first Congressional hearings critical of stimulant medication were held in the early 70s when an estimated 100,000-200,000 children were receiving these drugs."

A 1998 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found the number of children taking stimulants in 1985 had risen to 570,000, nearly tripling the 70s number.  The total in 1994, just nine years later, was 2,860,000, a five-fold increase.  And today the total is even higher.  So what is responsible for this explosion?