With pharmacies unable to fill prescriptions, many ADHD patients are turning to Craigslist to buy illicit pills online
Peruse an online marketplace like Craigslist, and you’ll find coded classified ads for “Study Help” and “Study Hall”, or calls looking for a “Study Buddy”. Despite the scholarly language, these aren’t people looking for pre-final cram session. They’re plugs for Adderall: the trade name for a combination of amphetamine salts long prescribed as a first-choice treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It’s a drug that is, of late, in perilously short supply.
The US National Institute for Mental Health estimates that ADHD affects 4.4% of adults between the ages of 18 and 44. The number of adults treated for ADHD has increased in recent decades, attributable to the wider destigmatization of diagnosing the disorder in adults as well as the Covid-19 pandemic and its knockback effects on adult mental health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that adult prescriptions for ADHD medication increased by 7.9% between 2020 and 2021, compared with a 1.4% average annual increase between 2016 and 2020. In 2021, doctors authorized in excess of 30m prescriptions for Adderall, serving nearly 4 million patients.
But over the past two years, many of patients have been unable to procure their prescription, due to manufacturing shortfalls. With the delta between demand and supply widening, some adults with diagnosed ADHD are forced to forsake CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens and other drug retailers, and turn elsewhere.
Ironic.
The methyl group (which is what you responded to, before you cry “strawman” again) includes Ritalin, which is not addictive if you are taking it as prescribed. Meth, even in small amounts, is highly addictive.
Your “experience” isn’t personal use, so what?
You said:
I am someone who has taken both, they aren’t similar. Weird how you can say that but my experience doesn’t count because it doesn’t agree with what you’re saying.
More splitting hairs because you can’t face the reality. The denial here is so strong.
You don’t understand the words and phrases you use. You also cannot engage in discussions properly. I now doubt you have the experience you tout, it’s more likely someone in your family has been dependent for decades, not that you’re a grown person working to help those with dependence. See how easy I can dismiss you with silly comments too?