Pubdate: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 Source: Dominion, The (New Zealand) Copyright: 2000 The Dominion Contact: P O Box 1297, Wellington, New Zealand Fax: +64 4 474-0350 Website: http://www.inl.co.nz/wnl/dominion/index.html CHILDREN'S DRUG HELPS ADDICTS FEED A HABIT Ritalin is a class-B drug, used therapeutically in New Zealand and around the world to control children's disruptive behaviour. Tomorrow's 60 Minutes on TV1 shows the drug is being abused by drug addicts and dealers. According to the programme, every day thousands of children are asked to be responsible for the drug, unaware that it is classified as dangerous as amphetamine or Ecstasy. Ritalin may control disruptive behaviour, reporter Janet McIntyre finds, but used in other ways and in bigger quantities, it can have very different, very serious side-effects. The programme charts an ever-growing rise in Ritalin prescriptions to children, and the number of people getting the drug to feed a habit. Former user and dealer Mark Spessot tells McIntyre how he fed his habit with prescriptions written for children. "I would have 20 to 30 tablets a day," he says. At the same time it cannot be ignored that for the families of 7500 New Zealand children, the drug is seen as the answer to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder - the key to controlling the uncontrollable. - --- MAP posted-by: Allan Wilkinson