'Smart Drug' Fears Expected As A Result Of Rise In ADHD Prescriptions
- 13 Aug
Students have been found to take drugs which are affiliated to the 'smart-drug' craze to harness concentration and fight stress.
Officials at the watchdog said:
"Health workers should carefully monitor the drugs because they have a potential for diversion or misuse."
There has been a 56% rise in the administered prescriptions for such medications; an increase from 420,000 prescriptions in 2007 to 657,000 in 2012.
According to the Care Quality Commission's (CQC) annual report on controlled drugs:
"Prescriptions for methylphenidate drugs (a psychostimulant and is thought to stimulate a part of the brain that changes mental and behavioural reactions) including Ritalin, have been steadily increasing."
The Guardian stated that:
"Previous research has indicated that as many as one in 10 UK students could be taking "cognitive-enhancing" drugs."
The CQC report also states that:
"As in previous years, we believe that this reflects increased diagnosis of, and prescribing for, the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
"We are also aware of the possibility that methylphenidate could be diverted and abused, and for this reason we recommend that its use should be monitored carefully.
"We are aware of reports in the media and scientific literature that it is being abused as a 'smart' drug to improve cognitive function; the long-term risks of this practice are not known."
Image source: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1120380
Related articles
- 24 Jul
Closure of London substance misuse clinic
Over the past two years the clinic has lost around £600,000 a year which renders the service "financially unviable". Trust chief executive Claire Murdoch told the July board meeting that, while she...
- 30 Apr
Young people being treated for substance abuse
Freedom of Information requests have revealed hundreds of young people are at risk of becoming addicts or have begun abusing alcohol and substances themselves, leaving many charities requesting...
- 28 Feb
Legal highs summit to be held by government
Norman Baker, the Home Office minister, has said that the substances were a "very serious issues" for public health. He added that they were dangerous as people buying the hallucinogenic drugs did...
- 21 Nov
OECD: Antidepressant use on the rise
Figures show that doctors in countries with more wealth are writing prescriptions for more than one in ten adults. Iceland, Australia, Canada and other European Nordic countries are leading the way,...
- 30 Sep
NHS could supply drugs to addicts says UK police chief
Mike Barton, one of England's most senior police officers, has called for class-A drugs to be decriminalised and for the policy of outright prohibition to be radically revised, reports the...
- 19 Aug
Chief Medical Officer Says Drug Addiction Is Not A Criminal Issue
She said:"Of course it's a medical problem, I mean addiction is a medical problem, and it becomes a public health problem and then our society is choosing to treat that as a criminal justice...
- 25 Jul
Local resident supports people suffering with drug and alcohol addiction
Dave Guy is a founding member of Marah, a Christian charitable organisation committed to supporting vulnerable and marginalised adults in the Stroud District, helping them to move on from their...
- 22 Jul
Substance Misuse Service Raises Awareness
Rotherham's 'Know the Score' provides drug treatment and relapse prevention for children and young people up to the age of 19 who have problematic drug and alcohol use. The service is multi-agency...
- 02 Jul
Salvation Army Plan to Tackle Substace Misuse
The Salvation Army today announced an expansion of their social work, to increase outreach work to support communities with alcohol dependency and its effects on health, families and futures.The...
- 30 May
75% Rise in Prescriptions for Alcohol Dependency
A government report shows that the number of prescriptions given to people for alocohol dependency has risen by 75% in the last 9 years. The Health and Social Care Information Centre study shows...
Support Solutions 5th National Housing Support & Social Care Conference 2014 The conference tackled todays issues at provider level, and provided knowledgeable people to present the workshops. A.L - Caraston Hall
