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Street Names:
Unknown.
Description:
Tablets in white (20 mg.), scored pale blue
(10 mg.), and light yellow (20 mg.).
Origin and Medical Uses:
Ritalin is an amphetamine drug.
Ritalin is currently widely used to treat ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) in children and
adults. Amphetamines in general were developed in the 1920s. They were used at
first to treat depression and obesity, but stringent controls have greatly reduced their
medical use.
Short Term Effects:
Increased alertness and energy, feeling of well-being, rapid
heart beat and breathing, increased blood pressure, sweating, dilated pupils, dryness of
mouth. The user may become talkative, restless, excited, feel powerful, superior,
aggressive, hostile, or behave in a bizarre, repetitive fashion. Very large doses
produce flushing, pallor, very rapid or irregular heart beat, tremors, severe paranoia,
and frightening hallucinations. Death can result from use as a consquence of burst
blood vessels in the brain, heart failure, or very high fever. Violence, accidental
or otherwise, is a leading cause of amphetamine related deaths.
Long Term Effects:
Chronic heavy users may develop malnutrition
or amphetamine psychosis, a mental illness similar to paranoid schizophrenia. They
may be prone to violence. AIDS, and other infections from unsterile needles or from
repeated injections at the same spot are common among speed users.Impurities injected with
the drug can block or weaken small blood vessels. Kidney damage, lung problems,
stroke or other tissue injury can result. Instances of withdrawal symptoms among newborn infants of mothers using amphetamines
have been documented.
Tolerance and Dependence:
Cocaine and amphetamines can produce very powerful psychological
dependence involving extremely compulsive patterns of use. Physical
dependence may also develop. Withdrawal
symptoms may include fatigue, long but disturbed sleep, strong hangover, irritability,
depression and violence.
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