Drug Enforcement Agency

November 13, 1999

Information Printed On:

DEA Handout

Methylphenidate (Ritalin)

The primary, legitimate medical use of methylphenidate (Ritalin) is to treat attention deficit disorders in children. As with other Schedule II stimulants, the abuse of methylphenidate may produce the same effects as the abuse of cocaine or the amphetamines. It has been reported that the psychosis of chronic methylphenidate intoxication is identical to the paranoid psychosis of amphetamine intoxication.

Unlike other stimulants, however, methylphenidate has not been clandestinely produced, although abuse of this substance has been well documented among narcotic addicts who dissolve the tablets in water and inject the mixture. Complications arising from this practice are common due to the insoluble fillers used in the tablets. When injected, these materials block small blood vessels, causing serious damage to the lungs and retina of the eye.

One day in 1993 while living in Japan a Japanese child asked me the following:

Why is American giving Ritalin drugs

to control Black males?

Answer in 1993

I do not know what Ritalin is.

Answer in 1995

Today I can say Ritalin is everything,

but cocain in name

Ritalin